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Course Manager and Post-16 Learning Aims

Course Code – CMPLA-1-05

Version 17.0

Course Manager and Post-16 Learning Aims - Draft CMPLA-1-05

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Capita SIMS, Franklin Court,Priory Business Park, Cardington, Bedford, MK44 3JZ

Tel: 01234 838080 Fax: 01234 832082 http://www.capita-sims.co.uk

Where appropriate for data entry purposes, the graphics used in this document match the training data recommended for use on the course. Where the graphic is an

example of what might be expected when using certain areas of the software, the training data may not be an exact match.

Revision History

Version Change Description Date

7.186 – 14.0 Updated for 7.186 25/04/2019

7.188 – 15.0 Updated for 7.188 06/08/2019

7.188 – 15.1 Minor edits 04/09/2019

7.192 – 16.0 Updated for 7.192 08/04/2020

7.194 – 17.0 Updated for 7.194 28/05/2020

This booklet is designed for use with SIMS software version 7.194

Mimeo Print code: CMPLA-1-v17.0


Course Manager and Post-16 Learning AimsContents

Introduction.............................................................................................................................1Introduction.....................................................................................................................................................................................1Course Objectives..........................................................................................................................................................................1Overview........................................................................................................................................................................................1Course Requirements.....................................................................................................................................................................1

01. Introduction to Course Manager.....................................................................................3Chapter Introduction.......................................................................................................................................................................3Course Manager Permissions........................................................................................................................................................3What is a Course?..........................................................................................................................................................................3Where are Courses in SIMS?.........................................................................................................................................................3What Use is Made of Courses?......................................................................................................................................................4How do Courses get created?........................................................................................................................................................4What are the Benefits of Course Manager?....................................................................................................................................4Who Needs to be Involved in the Course Process?.......................................................................................................................5

02. Course Manager and the Post-16 Learning Aims Collection.......................................7Chapter Introduction.......................................................................................................................................................................7Key Information for 2020 Post-16 Learning Aims Return................................................................................................................7Dual Registered Students...............................................................................................................................................................7What Data is Collected?.................................................................................................................................................................7Learning Aims................................................................................................................................................................................9QNs................................................................................................................................................................................................9Two Year Courses........................................................................................................................................................................10UKPRN (UK Provider Reference Number)...................................................................................................................................11Withdrawal Reason......................................................................................................................................................................11Year Group and Year Taught In...................................................................................................................................................11Resits...........................................................................................................................................................................................12Retakes........................................................................................................................................................................................12Maths and English GCSE Prior Attainment..................................................................................................................................12Traineeships.................................................................................................................................................................................13Industry Placement.......................................................................................................................................................................13Funding Requirements.................................................................................................................................................................13Recording Industry Placements....................................................................................................................................................14

03. Exploring a Course in SIMS..........................................................................................17Chapter Introduction.....................................................................................................................................................................17Course Screen Overview..............................................................................................................................................................17Step by Step – Exploring a Course...............................................................................................................................................17Tab 1: Duration and Tolerance.....................................................................................................................................................17Course Manager Memberships....................................................................................................................................................19Completion Tolerance – Overview................................................................................................................................................19Tab 2: Basic.................................................................................................................................................................................20Tab 3: Examination.......................................................................................................................................................................20Tab 4: Classification.....................................................................................................................................................................21Tab 5: Supervisors.......................................................................................................................................................................21Tab 6: Classes.............................................................................................................................................................................21Tab 7: Memberships and Results.................................................................................................................................................22

04. Linking Exam Awards....................................................................................................23Chapter Introduction.....................................................................................................................................................................23Non EDI Results entry..................................................................................................................................................................23Step by Step – Linking History Exam Award to a Course.............................................................................................................23

05. Creating Courses...........................................................................................................25Chapter Introduction.....................................................................................................................................................................25How are Courses Created – Automatically...................................................................................................................................25Step by Step – Examining and Assigning Levels to Classes in Nova-T........................................................................................25Activity – Refresh Base Data from SQL........................................................................................................................................26Activity – Assign Levels to a Year.................................................................................................................................................28Activity – Assign Levels to a Block...............................................................................................................................................28Activity – Assign Levels to a Class...............................................................................................................................................28

06. Course Manager Settings..............................................................................................29Chapter Introduction.....................................................................................................................................................................29Auto Update Class Supervisors from Chosen Course Supervisors..............................................................................................29Default for Course Browse...........................................................................................................................................................29Discount Results (Default)............................................................................................................................................................30


Planned Hours Threshold.............................................................................................................................................................30Earliest YTI for Completion Management.....................................................................................................................................30Default Completion Tolerance......................................................................................................................................................31Default Continuity Tolerance........................................................................................................................................................31Folder for Results Report.............................................................................................................................................................31Default Course Duration and Tolerance by Level.........................................................................................................................31Default Qualification Hours and Non-Qualification Hours.............................................................................................................32Set Academic Year.......................................................................................................................................................................32Step by Step – Changing the Academic Year...............................................................................................................................32Update Course Memberships.......................................................................................................................................................33Step by Step – Updating Course Memberships............................................................................................................................33

07. Downloading, Importing Qualification Data and UKPRNs.........................................35Chapter Introduction.....................................................................................................................................................................35QWS QAN Attachment.................................................................................................................................................................35Downloading QWS QAN XML Files..............................................................................................................................................35Step by Step – Downloading the Required Files..........................................................................................................................36Step by Step – Importing QANs and Discount Codes into SIMS..................................................................................................36Step by Step – Activating QWS QANs and Discount Codes in Course Manager.........................................................................37Activity – Updating QANs.............................................................................................................................................................39UKPRN Set Up.............................................................................................................................................................................39Step by Step – Adding UKPRN Detail to School Details...............................................................................................................39Step by Step – Adding UKPRNs...................................................................................................................................................39Step by Step – (Optional) Split Courses Taught Externally and by the School.............................................................................42

08. Managing Courses in Course Manager........................................................................45Chapter Introduction.....................................................................................................................................................................45Step by Step – Find Course Options............................................................................................................................................45Scenario – After School Course...................................................................................................................................................46Step by Step – After School Course.............................................................................................................................................46Activity – Attaching QWS QAN Codes..........................................................................................................................................47Scenario – Further Maths in Year 13............................................................................................................................................48Step by Step – Further Maths in Year 13.....................................................................................................................................48Step by Step – Classes Panel......................................................................................................................................................48Step by Step – Members Panel....................................................................................................................................................49Exams and Classification Panel...................................................................................................................................................49Scenario – Changing Students’ Exam Award (BTEC)..................................................................................................................50Step by Step – Changing Students’ Exam Award.........................................................................................................................50Step by Step – Manage Student Memberships within the Construction BTCe3 Course...............................................................50Activity – Attaching QWS QANs...................................................................................................................................................51Scenario – Year 11 English Language and Literature..................................................................................................................51Step by Step – English Literature.................................................................................................................................................51Scenario – Cross Curricular Courses by Student.........................................................................................................................51Step by Step – Cross Curricular Courses by Student...................................................................................................................52New Qualifications have been Introduced which Began for the First Time this Year....................................................................52Dealing with a Two-Year Course..................................................................................................................................................52Scenario – Dealing with Two Year Courses.................................................................................................................................53Step by Step – Setting GCE2Y Courses as 2 Years by Default....................................................................................................53Dealing with Incorrect Course Level.............................................................................................................................................54

09. Core Learning Aim.........................................................................................................57Chapter Introduction.....................................................................................................................................................................57Determining the Core Aim............................................................................................................................................................57Step by Step – Identifying an Individual Student’s Core Learning Aim.........................................................................................58Step by Step – Identifying a Core Learning Aim at Course Level.................................................................................................60

10. Post-16 Programmes of Study......................................................................................61Chapter Introduction.....................................................................................................................................................................61Maintaining Post-16 Programmes of Study..................................................................................................................................62Academic Year.............................................................................................................................................................................62Step by Step – Updating Post–16 Programme of Study Data Manually.......................................................................................62Step by Step – Updating Post–16 Programme of Study Data from Courses................................................................................63Step by Step – Updating the Post–16 Study Programme Hours Manually...................................................................................63Step by Step – Allocating Programme of Study Hours to Courses...............................................................................................64Activity – Work Experience...........................................................................................................................................................65Step by Step – Populating Individual Post-16 Programmes of Study Hours from Courses...........................................................65Step by Step – Populating Course Post-16 Programme Study Hours from Qualification Level Hours..........................................66

11. Prior Attainment.............................................................................................................67Chapter Introduction.....................................................................................................................................................................67Step by Step – Prior Attainment...................................................................................................................................................67

12. Student Memberships....................................................................................................71Chapter Introduction.....................................................................................................................................................................71What Situations May Have an Impact on Courses?.....................................................................................................................71Step by Step – Make Adjustments to Class Memberships in Academic Management.................................................................72Errors...........................................................................................................................................................................................74


Step by Step – Creating a Learning Aim Error to View in the School Census..............................................................................75Student Courses Report...............................................................................................................................................................75Step by Step – Running a Student Courses Report.....................................................................................................................75Student Leavers...........................................................................................................................................................................75Managing Student Retakes..........................................................................................................................................................76Step by Step – Managing Retakes (non prior attainment)............................................................................................................76

13. Post-16 Likely Scenarios...............................................................................................77Chapter Introduction.....................................................................................................................................................................77Bulk Update Routines...................................................................................................................................................................77Remove August End Dates..........................................................................................................................................................77Use Completion Tolerance to Reset Status..................................................................................................................................77Step by Step – Bulk Update.........................................................................................................................................................77Student Re-admissions................................................................................................................................................................78Starting Next Year’s Timetable Early............................................................................................................................................78

14. Preparing for the Census Return..................................................................................79Chapter Introduction.....................................................................................................................................................................79Preparation Checklist...................................................................................................................................................................79Step by Step – Post-16 Employment............................................................................................................................................80

15. Running the Census Return..........................................................................................83Chapter Introduction.....................................................................................................................................................................83Step by Step – Creating a New Return.........................................................................................................................................83Exam Link Off - Use Exam Result to determine QAN/Discount code is unticked.........................................................................85Exam Link On - Use Exam Result to determine QAN/Discount code is ticked.............................................................................85Editing Learning Aims...................................................................................................................................................................88Step by Step – Removing or Adding a Learning Aim Directly to the Census (Optional)...............................................................88To add a Learning Aim record:.....................................................................................................................................................89Step by Step – Create and Validate the Return............................................................................................................................90Checking Prior Attainment............................................................................................................................................................90Step by Step – Viewing the Summary Report and Detailed Reports............................................................................................91Step by Step – Viewing Reports from Previous Returns...............................................................................................................92Step by Step – Authorising the Return.........................................................................................................................................92

Appendix A............................................................................................................................95Where to go for Support...............................................................................................................................................................95Support Regarding SIMS Functionality.........................................................................................................................................95Support Regarding the School Census........................................................................................................................................95Useful Links..................................................................................................................................................................................95

Appendix B............................................................................................................................97Reconciliation Reports..................................................................................................................................................................97Reporting on Exam Entries and Results.......................................................................................................................................97Step by Step – Reconciling Post-16 Course and Exam Results Reports.....................................................................................97Course Memberships with No Exam Results................................................................................................................................98Exam Results with Course QAN and No Course Memberships....................................................................................................98Exam Results with Matching QAN................................................................................................................................................99Exam Results with No Course QAN.............................................................................................................................................99Step by Step – Reconciling Post-16 Course and Exam Entries Reports......................................................................................99Locating Additional Reports........................................................................................................................................................100Courses and QANs.....................................................................................................................................................................100Students’ Courses and QANs.....................................................................................................................................................100Students’ Courses without QANs...............................................................................................................................................100Duplicate QAN Report................................................................................................................................................................100

Appendix C..........................................................................................................................101Exam Levels...............................................................................................................................................................................101Description Code NQF Legacy NI Legacy..................................................................................................................................101

Appendix D..........................................................................................................................109Adding Subjects into SIMS.........................................................................................................................................................109Tools | Setups | Subjects............................................................................................................................................................109Implications for Nova-T...............................................................................................................................................................110

Appendix E..........................................................................................................................111Step by Step – Exploring Previously Created and Linked Courses............................................................................................111


I Introduction

This chapter contains:

Introduction.....................................................................................................................................................................................1Course Objectives..........................................................................................................................................................................1Overview........................................................................................................................................................................................1Course Requirements.....................................................................................................................................................................1

IntroductionThe collection of post-16 learning aims, directly from the school’s management information system (MIS), has led to the need for an additional structure beyond those used for timetabling, examinations and academic management; the need to be able to manage courses. Consequently, course manager exists in SIMS for schools to be able to maintain this data.

Nova-T, Examinations Organiser, Course Manager and Academic Management support the collection, maintenance and reporting of this data. You may not have detailed knowledge of all these areas, but you need to ensure that colleagues who do know that they have a significant part to play in a process that has a direct bearing on the school’s funding. Course Manager is an important part of SIMS which feeds into Autumn Census and maintaining it correctly will lead to an appropriate post-16 funding for a school. We strongly recommend schools to have someone in charge of Course Manager.

Course ObjectivesBy the end of the course, you will be able to:

n understand when a course is created

n understand the relationship between Course Manager and other areas of SIMS

n manage the student memberships of courses

n understand the link between examination awards and courses of study

n import and assign QWS QAN codes

n manage the post-16 learning aims processes.

OverviewThis course explores how the Course Manager functionality of SIMS links areas such as Nova-T, Academic Management and Examinations Organiser, including procedures for supporting the maintenance of post-16 learning aims.

Course RequirementsThis course is aimed at SIMS/data managers, academic administrators, examination officers and staff responsible for the post-16 learning aims return.

Introduction 1


An understanding of the curriculum structures and procedures used in the school and knowledge of the school’s curriculum policy would be helpful. An understanding of the operation of Nova-T, Examinations Organiser and statutory returns would be useful but is not essential. Schools may wish to send two delegates incorporating different areas of school responsibility.

Introduction 2


01 Introduction to Course Manager


Chapter Introduction.......................................................................................................................................................................3

Chapter IntroductionCourse Manager is an integral part of SIMS and draws together functionality from several different areas. The fundamental questions answered in this chapter are: ‘What is a course?’ and ‘How is it created?’

Course Manager PermissionsTo enable staff to add, edit and delete course details, they should be assigned membership of the curriculum manager group. Other groups which provide the ability to view course details only are class teacher, pastoral manager, registration tutor, assessment co-ordinator, exam officer, returns manager, assessment operator and exams operator.

What is a Course?A course is made up of a subject being studied at a particular level and could more appropriately be thought of as the learning aim or qualification a student is working towards.

A course acts to group together all the students pursuing the same learning aim.

For example, in years 10 and 11, there are likely to be several different maths classes that all study maths GCSE. It is essential that teachers have the facility to see their individual classes to register lesson attendance or enter assessment information. In other circumstances it may be useful to consider all the students studying towards maths GCSE as one whole group.

As well as the specifics of the subject, level and membership, courses in SIMS can also hold information on:

n planned qualification and non-qualification Hours

n nationally recognised qualification numbers (QNs) previously known as qualification accreditation numbers (QANs)

n links to exam basedata

n course supervisors

n class links

n student membership.

Where are Courses in SIMS?All courses are maintained in the course management area of SIMS, accessed via Tools | Academic Management | Course Manager | Maintain Course.

Introduction to Course Manager 3


What Use is Made of Courses?The successful creation and management of courses in SIMS ensures that accurate data is available to staff members of other SIMS areas, for example, the creation of exam marksheets by award. If the course has been created accurately and attached to an appropriate exam award, the marksheets created automatically contain all the required students.

The following diagram shows the impact courses have on some areas of SIMS:

How do Courses get created?Courses can be created in two different ways:

n automatically from Nova-T (timetable software)The person responsible for the timetable creates classes using Nova-T. Before the class information can be sent into SIMS for the allocation of students, an exam level should be assigned to each class.

SIMS examines the subject and exam level combinations of each class in the timetable, ensures that appropriate courses exist and links the appropriate classes to the appropriate courses.

n manually within SIMS.

Courses can be added manually directly into SIMS within Course Manager.

What are the Benefits of Course Manager?Nova-T only enables exam levels to be allocated at class level and not individual student level. In most circumstances, this is suitable, and courses will be updated or created appropriately.

Course Manager is designed to enable staff greater flexibility and control over the courses that have been automatically created and enables staff to create their own.



Some potential scenarios where courses may need to be manipulated or created are:

n A single class preparing some or all its members for multiple learning aims, for example, GCSE maths classes delivering maths and statistics as separate examinations.

n A single class preparing its members for multiple learning aims such as a class for a subject which contains candidates for single or dual certification, for example, BTEC.

n A twilight class for which no formal timetabled classes exist.

n A student pursuing a learning aim where no class exists, for example, a native speaker of a foreign language where some minimal exam preparation is required.

n A student in a class for some other reason than the intention to achieve the learning aim associated with it.

Who Needs to be Involved in the Course Process?Due to the nature of the information managed within Course Manager and its potential impact on school funding, it is imperative that there is effective communication between several key people.

It is important that each organisation is clear about who carries out each task and that clear processes are in place. Job titles and roles within secondary schools can vary widely. The following table is not prescriptive, but a guide to the roles and responsibilities involved in the overall process of courses:

Task Roles

Clear information available to the exam officer regarding which exam awards students are working towards across the curriculum. This is to ensure that the exam officer has the information needed to download appropriate basedata.

Head of department, curriculum deputy head, exam officer.

Accurate allocation of exam levels to classes in the timetable before the transfer to SIMS.

Timetabler, curriculum deputy head, exam officer.

Accurate management of basedata and linking of certification awards to courses.

Exam officer, academic manager, data manager/SIMS manager.

Ensuring that all courses required are available in SIMS Course Manager.

Curriculum deputy head, exam officer, academic manager, SIMS manager/data manager.

Allocation of students to academic classes and on-going changes to class membership.

Academic manager, data manager/SIMS manager.

Management of course memberships/exceptions. Academic manager, data manager/SIMS manager

Creation and checking of the autumn school census. Curriculum deputy head, data manager/SIMS manager.



02 Course Manager and the Post-16 Learning Aims Collection


Chapter Introduction.......................................................................................................................................................................7

Chapter IntroductionThe Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) requires learning aim information to be submitted via the school census return for schools with a sixth form. This information is used to calculate sixth form funding and qualification success rates (QSRs).

Key Information for 2020 Post-16 Learning Aims ReturnCensus Date: 01/10/2020

Learning Aims: 01/08/2018– 01/10/2020

Data is Collected for Which Students?Learning Aims will be collected for any students who:

n Were on roll at the school at any point between 1 August 2020 and census day and were in actual national curriculum year group 12 or above in that period, regardless of their age; and for whom the school wishes to claim post-16 funding from the ESFA.

Previous Academic year

n Were on roll in the school at any point between 1 August 2019 and 31 July 2020, were in actual national curriculum year group 12 or above in that period, regardless of their age, for whom the school wishes to claim post-16 funding from the ESFA.

Dual Registered StudentsFunding will only be provided to the main school for those students who are dual registered. Learning aims for dual registered pupils should be returned by the school holding the student’s main registration. The main school should return the learning aims being taken at both the main and subsidiary schools. Likewise, subsidiary schools should not submit learning aims in respect of students with subsidiary registration.

What Data is Collected?The following data will be returned in the census file:

n Qualification number (QN) and discount code. AO QN and discount code where a result exists otherwise QWS QAN and discount code.

n UK Provider Reference Number (UKPRN) only if the course is provided other than by the school.

n Learning aim start date.

n Learning aim planned end date.

n Learning aim actual end date.

Course Manager and the Post-16 Learning Aims Collection 7


n Learning aim status: continuing, completed, withdrawn, transferred.

n Learning aim withdrawal reason (if a student has withdrawn from the course.)

n Learning aim planned qualification or non-qualification hours.

n Learning aim planned qualification or non-qualification hours previous year (to enable corrections to be reported).

n Core learning aim (for students on a mixed vocational and academic programme).

n Prior attainment data in English and maths.

n Prior attainment data in English and maths previous year (to enable corrections to be reported).

n Traineeship indicator.

n Post-16 Pupil Programme Aims data items [New for Autumn 2020]n Post-16 Pupil Planned Hours data items [New for Autumn 2020]n Post-16 Learning Aim Placements data items [New for Autumn 2020]Aforementioned new data items are related to the introduction of T Levels. Please see the detail of these new data items on page 14.

It is useful to consider the post-16 return as two collections at one point in time:

Previous academic year Current academic year

Sept

embe

r

Oct

ober

Nov

embe

r

Dec

embe

r

Janu

ary

Febr

uary

Mar

ch

Apr

il

May

June

July

Aug

ust (

Res

ults

)

Sept

embe

r

Oct

ober

(Cen

sus)

Nov

embe

r

Dec

embe

r

Janu

ary

Febr

uary

Mar

ch

Apr

il

May

June

July

Learning aims for completed and continuing courses.

(Exam (AO) QN and Discount Code or QWS QAN and Discount Code, start date, actual end date, planned end date, planned qualification or non-qualification hours, core learning aim for student on a vocational or mixed programme), Traineeship Indicator, UKPRN if applicable, prior attainment data in English and maths and status, where status is completed.

QWS QAN, withdrawal reason, start date, actual end date, planned end date, core learning aim for student on a vocational or mixed programme, prior attainment data in English and maths. UKPRN if applicable, Traineeship Indicator and status, where status is not completed i.e. continuing, withdrawn or transferred.

Learning aims only for national curriculum year group 12 and above.

(QWS QAN and Discount Code, start date, actual end date, planned end date, status, withdrawal reason, planned qualification or non-qualification hours for current and previous academic year, core learning aim for student on vocational or mixed programme), Traineeship indicator and UKPRN if applicable. Prior attainment data in English and maths for current and previous academic year. T Levels related data items includes Pupil Programme Aims data items, Pupil Planned Hours data items and Learning Aim Placements data items.



Learning AimsAll learning aims regardless of membership period will be included in the return.

NOTE: Guidance on Learning Aims

The ESFA need all learning aims to be incorporated, including the learning aims that did not reach the qualifying period. We understand that the qualifying period still has significance for funding, but the ESFA needs all information for funding purposes.

We have modified our coding to ensure that we no longer take account of the qualifying period when adding learning aims to the Learning Aims panel within the School Census screen.

Given the amount of changes to learning aims that take place in the first six weeks of the year in most schools we believe that the following advice should be borne in mind by schools.

Always use Focus | School | Academic Structure | Curriculum Assignment by Student routine in SIMS when sixth form students change learning aims and ensure that the end date is the system date or a date in the past. Ensure that the correct learning aim status and, where appropriate, ensure that the correct withdrawal reason is recorded.

Use the Leavers Routine via Routines | Student | Leavers in SIMS when sixth form students leave the school and, ensure that the correct withdrawal reason is recorded.

If Exceptions are being used in Maintain Course make sure that the corresponding course membership is for a single day; we will ignore single day actual memberships for Exceptions.

QNs QNs formerly QANs are nationally recognised numbers for each exam award. Each QN represents the board, level and broad subject for an exam.

NOTE: Although QN is a new terminology for QAN this booklet will refer QAN wherever the reference is being made to DfE QAN website as the website still using the terminology of QAN at the time of updating this booklet.

There are two sources of QAN in relation to Course Manager and the census return:

QAN Type Description Available from Required for

QWS QAN QWS web service QAN

QWS website for download into SIMS.

All learning aims without a result from the awarding authority including:

n Take up of new courses.

n Courses with status of withdrawn, transferred or continuing.

n Completed aims school assessed.

AO QN Awarding Exam boards and All learning aims



organisation QN basedata for import into SIMS.

with a result from the awarding body.

Two Year CoursesIt is important that two year courses are recorded with an appropriate duration in SIMS as part of the course setup. The learning aim planned end date should show that the course is expected to last for two years. At the end of year one, the learning aim status continuing would demonstrate that a result is not expected for this student.

Planned qualification or non-qualification hours for a student on a study programme that spans more than one funding year should only have the planned hours recorded for each separate year of data.

Dealing with two year courses is also discussed in Chapter 8.

NOTE: In line with the introduction of linear A-levels, new course levels are available for Two Year A Level Courses of “GCE2Y” and a new level of GCE Advanced Subsidiary Revised (GCAS1) is also available. Below is the extract from the DfE guidance on dealing with the AS-level and then continuing on A-level.

A learner planning to take the AS-level as well as for the A-level: the school records the AS-level for the first year with a learning aim planned end date reflecting the planned one-year length of the course. For example, for a student starting an AS-level in September 2018 the start date will be 2018-09-01 and the planned end date will be 2019-07-31. When the learner goes on to the A-level in 2019, the school must record the A-level as a one-year course (the start date will be 2019-09-01 and the planned end date will be 2020-07-31)

Further information on the Linear Two Year A Level courses can be found in DfE Completing the census autumn term web site (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/complete-the-school-census/autumn-term).

Further information on setting course levels and importing levels can be found in Chapter 5.



UKPRN (UK Provider Reference Number)Any post-16 learning aims, where the learning is provided other than at the school, includes a UKPRN to identify the provider. The UKPRN is a unique 8-digit number maintained by the UKRLP (UK Register of Learning Providers).

Schools can search for UKPRNs on the UKRLP websites https://www.ukrlp.co.uk or Get information about schools website formerly Edubase .

Further information on UKPRN can be found in Chapter 7.

Withdrawal ReasonA post-16 learning aim from which a student withdraws must include a withdrawal reason.

Year Group and Year Taught InThe school census is for students in national curriculum year 12 or above. When entering or checking student year group information, it is important to understand the difference between the two-year group fields available within a student’s registration panel, as shown in the graphic displayed below.

Year group is the year group that a student is assigned to in the pastoral sense and affects which registration group the student can be assigned to.

Year taught in (YTI) is the year the student is taught in academically. This is the one which is relevant for the census return and for allocating students the appropriate academic classes.

NOTE: Year taught in (YTI) appears as a column in the find student browse

It will also appear in the following menu routes:

n Lesson Monitor | Display Marks

n Focus | Behaviour management |Student Behaviour

n Focus | Student | Student Details

n Focus | Student | Student Teacher View

n Focus | Student | Exclusion

n Focus | Student | Education History

n Focus | Student | Courses

n Focus | Student | Student Details | Family/Home panel | Copy contacts

n Focus | Groups |User Defined Groups |Membership |Action |Add Student

n Tools | Pupil Premium | Maintain | Add Pupil Premium



ResitsA resit occurs when an examination is taken again, or coursework resubmitted, but the student does not attend lessons.

Information on resits is not required or collected as part of the Post-16 census and no funding is attached to it.

RetakesRetakes should be treated in the same way as a normal course and recorded as a new learning aim. A retake occurs when a student is retaking a complete qualification, including attendance at regular classes.

Extract from ESFA ‘Funding Guidance Regulations for young people 2019 to 2020’:

n Where learning programmes are designed to enable students to re-sit or re-take examinations and assessments these are not generally eligible for funding as the activity has already been funded.

n Where there are exceptional circumstances outside the control of the student or institution, such as a period of long term sickness, or good educational reasons, then the re-take delivery hours for individual students may be included in the funded study programme hours. All such students must only make up a small percentage of the total 16-19 student cohort.

n Where a student fails to complete a learning aim in the expected time span and stays on for additional time, including revision sessions or re-sits, institutions must not record any further funding. Institutions must not include any planned hours in funding returns for students merely re-taking examinations.

n Qualifications leading to a GCSE grade 4 to 9 or A*-C in English and/or maths where the student has not yet achieved either a grade 4 to 9 or A*-C in these subjects are not treated as retakes for funding purposes.

This means that these GCSE English and/or maths retakes should be included in Planned Hours.

A column has been added to Course Manager to allow schools to indicate where a student is retaking a course. Ticking this column for an individual student/s will ensure that is Calculate hours from courses is used, the course being retaken will be excluded from Qualification hours and Non Qualification hours. Therefore, this should not be ticked for students retaking maths and English due to prior attainment failure.

However, if a student is retaking maths or English to improve their grade, for example, they have achieved grade 4/5 but wish to achieve a grade 9,8,7,6 the non-funded column should be ticked.

Maths and English GCSE Prior Attainment Prior attainment in English and maths must be recorded for all students in year 12 (YTI) and above. Both the grade and when that prior attainment was achieved must be recorded. This information is used to fund schools and therefore must be accurately recorded.



NOTE: The ESFA have made a change to maths and English condition of funding guidance that will apply from academic year 2019 to 2020.

The change means that students with a grade 2 or below in maths or English can study towards a pass in functional skills level 2 (legacy or reformed) or they can still study towards a GCSE grade 9 to 4. Once they have achieved this, there is no requirement to undertake further maths or English qualifications to meet the condition of funding.

Full time students with a grade 3 must still study an eligible GCSE qualification in order to meet the condition of funding.

Part time students with a grade 3 can still study any qualification approved to meet the condition of funding as a stepping stone towards achieving a GCSE grade 9 to 4.

This adjustment allows providers and students with prior attainment of GCSE grade 2 and below, to choose which level 2 qualification is most appropriate.

TraineeshipsIt is a requirement to record traineeships. Traineeships normally include work experience and work preparation alongside maths (if required) and English (if required), but so will many non-traineeships.

The Traineeship column in Course Manager allows schools to indicate where a student is on a traineeship.

NOTE: ESFA description

A traineeship is an education and training programme with work experience that unlocks the great potentials of young people and prepares them for their future careers by helping them to become ‘work ready’.

Designed to help young people aged 16 to 24 who don’t yet have the appropriate skills or experience, traineeships provide the essential work preparation training, English, maths and work experience needed to secure an apprenticeship or employment.

Industry PlacementFor the Autumn 2019 Census this section only applies to schools in receipt of industry placement capacity and delivery funding.

Industry placements will form an integral part of the T Level programme from 2020. Students will be unable to complete the T Level, unless they have undertaken an industry placement.

Some schools will be in receipt of industry placement capacity and delivery fund to help deliver external industry placements in preparation for the introduction of T Levels.

Funding RequirementsFor schools in receipt of industry placement capacity and delivery fund, placements must meet the following criteria to count for funding:

the student must be following a level 2 or level 3 programme

the student must be full-time (bands 5 or 4A)

the student must follow a vocational programme that is not based around applied general qualifications (such as BTECs)



the placement must be a single, continuous, placement (at the same employer) of at least 45 days duration and a minimum of 315 hours

the industry placement must be occupationally specific to the course the student is undertaking

the placement must be with an external employer.

Recording Industry PlacementsSchools record industry placements using one of the 16 industry placement learning aims. These record the number of hours in the work placement.

Industry Placement Number of hours in placement

Band 1 315 to 329

Band 2 330 to 344

Band 3 345 to 359

Band 4 360 to 374

Band 5 375 to 389

Band 6 390 to 404

Band 7 405 to 419

Band 8 420 to 434

Band 9 435 to 449

Band 10 450 to 464

Band 11 465 to 479

Band 12 480 to 494

Band 13 495 plus

Qualification numbers are available in QWS to allow the recording of industry placements.

T Levels Data Items (new from Autumn 2020)This is the major change for the autumn 2020 census according to the DfE Common Basic Data Set (CDBS) 2020/21 for the schools who are offering T levels to their students. Below is the breakdown of the individual data items related to the introduction of T levels.

Pupil Programme Aims

o Programme Type

Study Programmes

T Levels

T Level Transition Programmes

o Learning Start Date

o Learning Planned End Date



o Learning Actual End Date

o Learning Status

o Learning Withdrawal Reason

o Traineeship

These new data item which will be of interest to all secondary schools.

Pupil Planned Hours

o T Level Planned Learning Hours

o T Level Planned Employability, Enrichment and Pastoral Hours

These items are of interest to just those schools who introduce T Levels in September 2020.

Learning Aim Placements

o Work Placement Employer ID

o Work Placement Mode

o Work Placement Start Date

o Work Placement End Date

o Work Placement Hours

These items are of interest to just those schools who introduce T Levels in September 2020.

As there are three Post-16 Programme types, below is the short explanation for each one

1. Study Programmes

Existing academic and vocational programmes of study

The type or programme is always reported to the DfE in terms of a single year

Subject to prior attainment in Maths and English rules

2. T Level Programmes

Follows on from GCSEs or equivalents

Equivalent to 3 A-Levels

Combines classroom theory, practical learning and minimum 315 hours industry placement

The type or programme is always reported to the DfE in terms of two years


3. T Level Transition Programmes

For students who are not ready to start a T-Level Programme

Does not lead to a external qualification, but will include study of areas with an external qualification, e.g. GCSEs

This type of programme is reported to the DfE in terms of a single year or less


Full time with a minimum of 540 planned hours



4.



03 Exploring a Course in SIMS


Chapter Introduction.....................................................................................................................................................................15Step by Step – Exploring a Course...............................................................................................................................................15

Chapter IntroductionBefore looking in more detail at how courses are created and the choices which may need to be considered in creating them, it might help to look at the different elements included in a course.

This chapter gives a broad overview of the panels present and the information they contain. The functionality relating to specific panels will be given later in the course, where necessary.

Course Screen OverviewA course can be accessed in SIMS via Tools | Academic Management | Course Manager | Maintain Course and is made up of seven panels.

Step by Step – Exploring a Course1. Log into SIMS.

2. Select Tools | Academic Management | Course Manager | Maintain Course to open Course Manager.

3. Click Search to display the list of courses.

4. Double-click a course in the list to open the course.

5. Observe the panels present, an overview is given below.

Tab 1: Duration and ToleranceThis panel displays the course duration, continuity tolerance and completion tolerance. These are default Course Manager settings, but settings can be changed for individual courses, if required.

Course duration enables staff to define the predicted length of time needed to deliver the course to the students.

Courses that are manually created are not updated from the default settings and this panel must also be updated manually.

Exploring a Course in SIMS 17


Continuity Tolerance – OverviewContinuity Tolerance relates to the changing of individual student curriculum and how these changes result in memberships within Course Manager and consequently the learning aims component of the census.

Consider the scenario where a student is following a learning aim of chemistry but changes to maths for a few days only to finally change back to chemistry.

The individual student curriculum is represented below.

Date Range 1 Date Range 2 Date Range 3

Depending on the continuity tolerance setting (represented by the purple box) two outcomes are possible.

Continuity Tolerance Setting: Shorter than the Change of MembershipIf the Continuity Tolerance is shorter than the change of learning aim, then three memberships will appear in Course Manager for the courses and three learning aims will appear in the census.

Course Manager Memberships

Course Start Date Actual End P End Status

Chemistry Start of date range one

End of date range one

End of date range three

Whatever is selected during completion management or manually in course membership (transferred).

Maths Start of date range two

End of date range two



Chemistry Start of date range three



Continuing or completed as appropriate.

Consequently, within the learning aim return, there will be three records returned for this situation, one line for chemistry for date range one, one line for maths for date range two and a finally one line for chemistry for date range three.


Ch Ch

Ma

Ch Ch

Ma


Continuity Tolerance Setting: Longer than the Change of MembershipIf the Continuity Tolerance is longer than the change of learning aim, then it will appear that one learning aim exists for chemistry, as two membership records will be joined into one record.

Course Manager Memberships

Course Start Date Actual End P End Status

Chemistry

Start of date range one



Continuing or completed as appropriate.

Maths Start of date range two

End of date range two



Consequently, whilst two records would exist in Course Manager, only one is likely to have a duration long enough to be returned for funding purposes.

Completion Tolerance – OverviewCompletion Tolerance relates to the ending of memberships within the individual student curriculum and what status these end dates generate in relation to the course duration. Student membership of courses ends due to:

1. the end date set for the membership

2. the leaving date of the student.

Completion Tolerance deals with the difference between the planned course end date generated from the course duration (defined during the initial timetable submission) and the individual membership end date.

Irrespective of the reason for the student membership ending, completion tolerance works in the following way:

Completion Tolerance Setting: Shorter than the Difference

Individual Membership

Course Duration

Completion Tolerance

In this situation the completion tolerance is shorter than the time between the individual membership end date and the planned end date – hence the student will receive a status of withdrawn for the course.


Ch Ch

Ma


Completion Tolerance Setting: Longer than the Difference

Individual Membership

Course Duration

Completion Tolerance

In this situation the completion tolerance is longer than the time between the individual membership end date and the planned end date – hence the student will receive a status of completed for the course. The planned end date for the course is set to the end date of the individual membership.

Tab 2: BasicThis panel holds basic name and code information related to the course and settings related to automated updates. It also holds information on the latest QAN web site (QWS) QAN along with a free text panel which enables the recording of any relevant information. There are also fields for course Qualification and Non-Qualification hours which are statutory fields for schools with sixth form.

Tab 3: ExaminationThe link between a course and an exam is made within Course Manager. The link is visible via Examinations Organiser but is read-only. The examination panel ignores the date filter for the course.

Schools should link each course to an appropriate award in Examinations Organiser. Once the exam award is linked any appropriate certification elements are displayed in the certification elements panel. Only one exam award can be active at any one time. The exam board AO QN is displayed along with any certification elements.



Clicking a Certification Element will display further details, as shown in the graphic displayed below.

Tab 4: ClassificationThis panel enables staff to link the appropriate QAN downloaded from The QWS website, along with other classifications such as school census activity (Northern Ireland only) and UKPRN (if the course is provided by a provider other than the school). The QAN (QWS) is necessary for all post-16 courses.

NOTE: It is not necessary to link the QCA code to the course in addition to the QN Code. The QN code contains a QN and QCA code combination.

Tab 5: SupervisorsThis panel enables course supervisors to be added. Course supervisors can have wider access to assessment marksheets than class teachers.

Tab 6: ClassesThis panel displays any classes that have been linked by association from the timetable or manually.



Tab 7: Memberships and ResultsThis panel shows the student membership of the course by association of the class membership from the panel above or those which have been manually attached. The Start Date, End Date and Planned End Dates are visible in addition to the exam result, if available, and both the AO and QWS QAN. The panel also displays the Core Aim; however, this column will only be available if the date range is restricted to a single academic year. Withdrawal reason is displayed, Non Funded, Provider UKPRN and traineeship columns. Non Funded allows schools to show where students are retaking an exam. This should not be ticked for students re-taking maths and English due to prior attainment failure.

Students can be removed from a course by using the panel displayed above. The record, in most cases, would need to be protected (using the Protect column) and then deleted. This removes any record in SIMS of the student ever being a member of that course.

This panel also holds an Exceptions area. Using the Exception option in the previous panel would enable the student to remain in the class, terminate the membership of the course for the student but keep a record that the student was, at some point, a member of the course. Graphic below is for illustration only and may not match the training data.

NOTE: Exceptions do show as learning aims on the school census if the student was on the course long enough to be considered.

Students can be removed from being an exception by using the Delete option in the Exceptions panel and saving the course.



04 Linking Exam Awards


Chapter Introduction.....................................................................................................................................................................21Step by Step – Linking History Exam Award to a Course.............................................................................................................21

Chapter IntroductionSIMS enables schools to link each exam award directly with a course in Course Manager (via Tools | Academic Management | Course Manager | Maintain Course). This link is then used for important reporting, data returns and analysis in Examinations Organiser.

Non EDI Results entrySome schools enter students for exams for which there is no basedata. This means that the results of these exams need to be manually entered within SIMS.

Non EDI Results Entry allows for the results to be available in Course Manager and Census. This is important to ensure that the correct Exam (AO) QN is picked up for the school census. This functionality is explored in Chapter 8.

Step by Step – Linking History Exam Award to a CourseHistory course for the new A Level exist in SIMS for the academic year 2020/2021. In order to link the award to the course:

1. In SIMS go to Tools | Academic Management | Course Manager | Maintain Course.

2. Type His into the Description field and Search.

3. Double-click the History (GCE2Y) course to open it and select tab 3:Examination.

4. Click Delete next to the award section to remove the award and Save.

5. Click New located to the right of the Awards Panel, type in the Award Code if known or alternatively type History and click Search.

6. Click on the appropriate Award (in this case 7042) to select it and click OK.

7. Click Save and the appropriate certification element, linked to the award, will be displayed.

NOTE: The process of importing and attaching the QWS QANs is covered in chapters 7 & 8.



NOTE: The process of overlapping courses is explained in Appendix E.



05 Creating Courses


Chapter Introduction.....................................................................................................................................................................23Step by Step – Examining and Assigning Levels to Classes in Nova-T........................................................................................23Activity – Refresh Base Data from SQL........................................................................................................................................24Activity – Assign Levels to a Year.................................................................................................................................................26Activity – Assign Levels to a Block...............................................................................................................................................26Activity – Assign Levels to a Class...............................................................................................................................................26

Chapter IntroductionNow that exam awards are understood, the creation of courses is considered. As already discussed courses are created either automatically or manually. The automatic process is outlined within this chapter.

How are Courses Created – AutomaticallyThe automatic process of creating courses starts within Nova-T which is the main source of course creation within SIMS Course Manager.

The timetabler creates classes and allocates an exam level to each class. When the classes are passed from Nova-T to SIMS via the Curriculum Matching Wizard, new courses may be created, or classes added to existing courses.

The school is unable to send the timetable into SIMS unless all classes have been allocated a level. Due to the nature of the data collected from the creation of courses it is also imperative that accurate levels are allocated at this initial stage.

A list of the levels available is in Appendix C.

The route in Nova-T to assign levels is via Tools | Assign Levels.

Step by Step – Examining and Assigning Levels to Classes in Nova-TIt is worth spending a moment to explore the levels assigned to the timetable in Nova-T.

Creating Courses 25


1. Launch Nova-T by selecting Focus | Nova T6.

2. Select the Load other file radio button and click OK.

3. Select the Load Local Dataset radio button and click Next. 4. Highlight 2020 in the Year list and select Green Abbey 2020-21.SPL.

5. Click Finish to complete the loading process.

Observe the curriculum structure by clicking Model, different years can be selected in the Year panel on the left. Observe the class labels which derive from this by clicking Classes and select a year except [Alt]. Different years can be selected.

6. Select Tools | Assign Levels and observe the following display (details may vary).

Level codes are assigned by clicking in a cell alongside a Year, a Block or a Class. Level codes exist for typical national qualifications, but codes for other or general are also available.

Configure in the Assign Levels to Years, Blocks and Classes screen is a recent addition to the software. It enables schools to filter out some of the exam levels that they do not use to make the list more manageable.

NOTES: The list of available levels is now populated from SIMS. When a school uses the Tools | Assign Levels screen they should be aware of the following:

The level descriptions will all show as (Unknown).

Only levels previously assigned to classes will be available for use.

In order to populate the descriptions or to activate additional codes then a Refresh Base Data from SQL routine will need to be carried out.

Activity – Refresh Base Data from SQLThis is a process where Nova-T can collect data from SIMS on Staff, Subjects, Rooms and Levels. This eliminates the need for double entry of data and ensures that the same codes are used across the two databases.

n Go to Data | Refresh Base Data from SQL.

n Accept today’s date and click OK.

n Log in to the SIMS database using the following details: User Name: Blacka and Password: abcd.

Creating Courses 26


n On the first page of the wizard ensure that the Levels check box is selected, as shown in the graphic displayed below and click Next.

This will display the following levels screen (examples may vary):

n Codes already used in Nova-T are highlighted in yellow.

n Codes that are already imported into Nova but are not currently allocated to any classes in the current Nova timetable file are marked “Not In Use”

n It is possible to select individual levels marked “Not Reqd” to be imported by clicking on the code. The selected level will then be displayed as green.

Groups of codes can also be selected for import using the Select Level Groups towards the bottom of the dialog and clicking the tick button.

n Click on Entry Level to change this to Import.

n Select BTEC Short courses from the Select Levels Groups and click tick.

n Click Finish.

n Click Yes to confirm the refresh of the data.

Creating Courses 27


n Go back into Tools | Assign Levels to explore the changes.

Activity – Assign Levels to a Yearn Click in the Level column for Year 9 and notice that this is already set to KStg3 (Key

Stage 3 (KS3). Note that all blocks associated to Year 9 are set to KStg3, as are the classes for each block.

n Change the Level of Year 9 to GCSNF (GCSE 9 - 1 full course) and see how this changes all the levels for all the blocks and associated classes.

Activity – Assign Levels to a BlockWith Year 9 still selected, select one of the maths blocks. Note that this block is now set to GCSNF, as are all the classes for the block. Change the block Level back to KStg3. This changes the level of all the classes allocated to the block but the year level remains GCSNF.

Activity – Assign Levels to a Classn With Year 9 still selected and the maths block used above, select one of the classes

associated with the maths block. The level of the class will now be KStg3. Change the class level to GCSNF. Note that the block level is unchanged.

n Cancel the changes which have just been made to the levels.

n Note that changes to a course cannot be made in Nova-T once a course has been created and has become active. If an attempt is made to change a level in Nova-T and subsequently send this into SIMS, the following message will be received.

NOTE: It is important to ensure that level changes part way through an academic year are managed in Course Manager and not just Nova-T. This is covered in more detail in Chapter 9. Levels for the 9 – 1 GCSE and 2 Year A levels are now available.

Creating Courses 28


06 Course Manager Settings


Chapter Introduction.....................................................................................................................................................................27Step by Step – Changing the Academic Year...............................................................................................................................30Step by Step – Updating Course Memberships............................................................................................................................31

Chapter IntroductionThe settings screen is accessed via Tools | Academic Management | Course Manager | Course Manager Settings.

This screen displays some of the default settings for the courses in Course Manager.

What follows is a description of each of the functions of the screen.

Auto Update Class Supervisors from Chosen Course SupervisorsEarlier in the course, the different elements of a course screen were explored. One of the elements was course supervisors. If course supervisors are allocated to courses then those individuals can have widened access to assessment class marksheets. This check box activates this functionality.

Creating Courses 29


Default for Course BrowseWhen searching for courses via Tools | Academic Management | Course Manager | Maintain Course various date criteria are available. The date criteria will influence which courses are displayed for selection.

The following date ranges are available.

This area of the screen enables staff to select the default view for the screen. It will be possible for the staff to change this again when navigating courses.

Census view is designed to list all the courses that will be picked up by the autumn school census.

Minimum Course Duration, Maximum Course Duration and Default Course DurationCourse duration enables staff to define the predicted length of time needed to deliver the course to the students.

NOTE: Specifying the duration assists the software in determining whether a restart to a course after the summer holidays is a continuation of the same learning aim or a retake with a new learning aim associated with it. The only exception is early starts in the last half term of the year which will always be treated as an extension of the duration.

Schools should specify the Minimum Course Duration and the Maximum Course Duration.

The default course duration is influenced by what is selected in the minimum and maximum and will be allocated to all course levels as the default duration.

The default can be changed for each course level and course.

Discount Results (Default)This check box influences the way in which the software deals with multiple results found against different QN codes with the same discount codes linked to the same course. For example, if this was selected and an A Level and AS level result are found against the same course, then the best result would be used.

NOTE: The best result is calculated by point score. Whilst the Exam Result is no longer collected, it is needed to determine the correct Exam (AO) QN to report.

Planned Hours ThresholdEntering the required number of hours for a full-time student (540) into this field will trigger colour coding of any students not meeting these criteria in the Maintain Programmes of Study screen. The Maintain Programmes of Study Screen is covered in chapter 10 of this course guide. The number of hours can also be adjusted directly on the Maintain Programmes of Study screen.

Creating Courses 30


Earliest YTI for Completion ManagementCompletion management is activated when a change occurs to a student curriculum via the Individual Curriculum Assignment functionality.

When moving students between courses staff members will be prompted to allocate a completion status for the course of either Withdrawn or Transferred. This functionality is only useful for students in the sixth form and therefore the year they are taught in defaults to year 11. This can be changed if necessary.

NOTE: Courses for students in year 11 must be ended before 1st August so that they are not confused with qualifications for year 12 and above.

Default Completion ToleranceCompletion tolerance indicates the period of time before the expected course end date that a student can leave a course and still be deemed to have completed the course.

The default completion tolerance is Two Months.

This tolerance is used to provide a default status when a student leaves a course via Curriculum Assignment or the Leavers routine. The following completion tolerances are available:

Default Continuity ToleranceContinuity tolerance indicates the period of time before a gap in class membership (excluding holidays) is deemed to indicate a discontinuity in course membership. This tolerance is used to ensure that actual memberships are not distorted by irrelevant gaps in class memberships.

This, along with the duration settings, will assist schools in dealing with two year courses. The same continuity tolerance options are available as with completion tolerances above.

The default continuity tolerance is Two Weeks.

Folder for Results ReportWhen viewing a course via Tools | Academic Management | Course Manager | Maintain Course it is possible to run a report of the membership and respective exam results (if present). This report is saved into the folder location specified in this area. It is important to note that these reports contain sensitive data and therefore the location should be secure. Each time a result report is created, the previous one will be overwritten if it is not renamed.

Default Course Duration and Tolerance by Level Where the default duration, tolerance and continuity have been set up earlier in the screen this information filters into the table for each course level available.

Global Default Overridden by Further overridden by

Default course duration Course level Duration and tolerance panel on the individual course.

Default continuity tolerance

Course level Duration and tolerance panel on the individual course.

Creating Courses 31


Default completion tolerance

Course level Duration and tolerance panel on the individual course.

The default levels will be applied to courses with that level setting. Editing any of these settings at the course level will override the global default setting.

If schools wish to change the default for certain levels, then this table should be used. Clicking into the appropriate column for the level to be edited would present them with a selection list.

NOTE: When changing the Default Course Duration, Default Continuity Tolerance or the Default Completion Tolerance, ensure that the column heading in the Default Course Duration and Tolerances by Level panel is right-clicked to collectively change the default setting in the columns. If Save is clicked before doing this, the defaults in the Default Course Duration and Tolerances by Level panel will not correctly reflect the defaults that specified in the Settings panel.

Default Qualification Hours and Non-Qualification HoursThese are in relation to the Study Programme Hours for students, covered in more detail in Chapter 10. Entering Qualification Hours or Non-Qualification Hours by exam level ensures that this number of hours is filtered through to all courses with that level. This can be edited for individual courses if necessary.

Qualification and Non-Qualification hours entered at course level can then be used to populate the hours recorded for each student via Tools | Academic Management | Course Manager | Maintain Programmes of Study. Further details can be found in Chapter 10.

Set Academic YearThis route plays an important part in Course Manager and has a direct impact on the courses and student membership the software looks at when the Update Course Memberships routine is run (as discussed below).

You should ensure that they are in the correct academic year before running this routine.

Step by Step – Changing the Academic Year1. Use the route Tools | Academic Management | Set Academic Year. With a recent

SIMS update the selected academic year can be viewed or changed via the SIMS Homepage too.

The academic year you are currently in is displayed in the Current column.

Creating Courses 32


2. To change to a different Academic Year, highlight it in the list and click OK.

A message is displayed to confirm that your academic year has been changed.

NOTE: This is a user specific route and will only affect your login.

Update Course MembershipsThis routine ensures that class and course membership are synchronised. The route is academic year specific. This should be a consideration when you are running the census return which collects data from more than one academic year.

Step by Step – Updating Course Memberships1. Ensure that the Academic Year is set correctly.

2. Select Tools | Academic Management | Course Manager | Update Course Memberships.

3. The above message is displayed. Click Yes to continue.

A message is displayed to advise that course memberships are being updated.

4. An additional message will appear once the update is complete. Click OK.

NOTE: Examples of when you may need to run Update Course Memberships are included within the activities in Chapters 8.

Creating Courses 33


Creating Courses 34


07 Downloading, Importing Qualification Data and UKPRNs


Chapter Introduction.....................................................................................................................................................................33Step by Step – Downloading the Required Files..........................................................................................................................34Step by Step – Importing QANs and Discount Codes into SIMS..................................................................................................34Step by Step – Activating QWS QANs and Discount Codes in Course Manager.........................................................................35Activity – Updating QANs.............................................................................................................................................................37Step by Step – Adding UKPRN Detail to School Details...............................................................................................................37Step by Step – Adding UKPRNs...................................................................................................................................................37Step by Step – (Optional) Split Courses Taught Externally and by the School.............................................................................40

Chapter IntroductionCourses need to have the correct QWS QAN code in the Classification panel of the course in Course Manager. This is essential for all courses containing students for which there is not an exam result. Where an exam result is present the AO QN is used.

There are several steps required to ensure that the correct QWS QAN is attached to a course as shown below.

QWS QAN Attachmentn Ensure that basedata in Examinations Organiser is current and all necessary exam

awards are present and that these exam awards are attached to the relevant course (this process is covered later).

n Download the latest QWS catalogue files from the DfE.

n Import the catalogue into SIMS. Locate and manually activate any additionally required QWS QAN numbers.

n Attach the activated QWS QAN to the appropriate course in the Classification panel.

Downloading QWS QAN XML FilesThe DfE maintains this list and data is available for download from the following DfE QAN website:

https://collectdata.education.gov.uk/qwsweb/default.aspx

Downloading, Importing Qualification Data and UKPRNs 35


Above the latest news, near to the top on the first screen, click the generic QAN data link. A list of available files will be displayed:

The following four files are needed from the Generic QAN Data | Data in XML Format area:

n awarding bodies (QAN_AB_<version>.xml)

n discount codes (QAN_DiscCode_<version>.xml)

n qualification types (QAN_QualType_<version>.xml)

n current QAN (QAN_Current_<version>.xml).

Click the applicable buttons to download the files, which should be stored on the local computer ready for import (see below).

Step by Step – Downloading the Required Files1. Navigate to the DfE QAN website.

2. Click the Generic QAN data link.

3. Click Awarding Bodies XML.

4. Click Save and save the file to the My Documents area of the computer.

5. Repeat this for the other required files above.

Step by Step – Importing QANs and Discount Codes into SIMS1. In SIMS, select Tools | Examinations | Import Qualification Data. The following

message dialog is displayed asking for confirmation that the latest files from the DfE have been downloaded.

2. Click OK to confirm. The Select Catalogue Files screen is displayed.

3. Click browser to the right of each of the four fields. Browse to the location of the files which have been downloaded. For the purposes of this training use R:\SIMS\Course Resources\QAN Training Data Import Files.



4. Select the Catalogue files in turn to match the example displayed in the graphic below.

5. Click Import Catalogue Files to start the import process. A message appears in the Status bar to indicate that the process has started. An Activity Log dialog is displayed once the import has completed. Ensure that both files are imported.

Within the Review QAN import section of the screen there are two reports available. The Certification Elements without QANs report shows you any certification elements within the exams basedata where the QAN data is missing. It is important that any certification elements which have results against them have the QAN present.

6. The Certification Elements with unmatched QANs report shows you any certification elements within the exams basedata where the QAN is mismatched against the QAN present in the Performance file imported. It would be worthwhile the exam officer exploring why this may be the case.

NOTE: Both reports check the QAN information held for the past 4 years.

Step by Step – Activating QWS QANs and Discount Codes in Course ManagerEven though the entire QWS QAN catalogue has been downloaded and imported, only a small selection of QWS QAN codes need to be present for selection within Course Manager. If a code is required within Course Manager and it is not present, it is necessary to make it available for selection by activating the QWS QAN from the imported catalogue into SIMS.

NOTE: Only Activate the QANs you require. Do not activate ALL QANs as this can result in Course Manager and Associated areas of SIMS being slow to load.

1. Select Tools | Academic Management | Course Manager | Update QANs and Discount Codes for Course Manager.



A selection screen is displayed supplying various filters.

The QAN catalogue contains thousands of records and clicking Search Title loads the entire list of QANs that are not already active in your SIMS system for browsing, which may take some time due to the amount of data. Awarding body, level of the qualification and title contents can all be used in combination to narrow the search.

2. Type Welsh in the Containing Title field and select Oxford, Cambridge and RSA from the Board drop-down list. Click Search Title. A number of matching qualifications appear.

3. Select OCR Level 3 NVQ Award in Speaking Welsh (QCF) with QAN 50119229, then click Add to move the selection into the lower field and click Update. This newly activated QWS QAN code will be attached to a new course created in a later activity.

NOTE: If a classification is already active in Course Manager it cannot be in the catalogue. This can be checked via Tools | Academic Management | Course Manager | Maintain Course Classification.

4. Click Update to complete the process.



Activity – Updating QANsAlso update the following QANs:

Subject Board Level QAN Discount

Construction Pearson Education BTDi3 50071373 TE5

Mathematics Pearson Education A Level 60311642 2210

UKPRN Set Up For schools to attach UKPRNs to where the learning is provided other than by the school, provider UKPRNs must be added as a course classification before they can be used by Course Manager. UKPRNs can be found at https://www.ukrlp.co.uk.

UKPRNs are only required for externally provided courses. Courses provided by the school (that is, taught in house by the school’s own staff) must not have the school’s own UKPRN added.

It is a requirement that schools add their own UKPRN to School Details in SIMS. This may have already been completed in your school in previous years.

Step by Step – Adding UKPRN Detail to School Details1. Establish your school’s UKPRN (if it not known, you can look up your school via

https://www.ukrlp.co.uk) or Get information about schools website formerly Edubase.

2. In SIMS select Focus | School | School Details.

3. Add your UKPRN into the UK Provider Reference Number Field.

Step by Step – Adding UKPRNs 1. Select Tools | Academic Management | Course Manager | Maintain Course

Classifications.


https://www.ukrlp.co.uk/


2. Select Provider UKPRN from Classification Codeset.

3. Click New. In Code type 10014157, in Description type Capita Learning and click OK.

4. Click Save.

5. Click OK to the message displayed.

6. Click OK to close the classification window.

7. Close and restart SIMS.



8. Select Tools | Academic Management | Course Manager | Maintain Course.

9. Type Health in the Description and click Search.

10. Double-click the course with GCE2Y exam level to open the detail and click tab 4:

Classification.

11. Click New.

12. Select Provider UKPRN from the Codeset list and highlight Capita Learning.

13. Click OK to add the UKPRN to the course.

14. Click Save.



Step by Step – (Optional) Split Courses Taught Externally and by the SchoolIf you have courses where one group of students is taught on the school site and another group is taught externally (College/Other Provider/External Site), this can be managed in the membership area of Course Manager.

1. Select Tools | Academic Management | Course Manager | Maintain Course Classifications.

2. Select Provider UKPRN from Classification Codeset.

3. Click New. In Code type 12345678 in Description type Green Abbey School and click OK.

4. Click Save.

5. Click OK to close the classification window.



6. Close SIMS and open again as per the prompt at the time of saving.


8. Type Health in the Description and click Search.

9. Double-click the course to open the detail and click tab 7: Memberships & Results.

10. In the Provider UKPRN column click on each student and select the provider of Green Abbey or Capita Learning (student list may vary).

This action is only required where a course is split between two main providers, as in this example, where one class uses one main provider (Capita Learning) and the other class uses their own school (Green Abbey) or a second main provider, and not if a whole course is provided by one main and one minor provider.

11. Click Save.



08 Managing Courses in Course Manager


Chapter Introduction.....................................................................................................................................................................43Step by Step – Find Course Options............................................................................................................................................43Scenario – After School Course...................................................................................................................................................44Step by Step – After School Course.............................................................................................................................................44Activity – Attaching QWS QAN Codes..........................................................................................................................................45Scenario – Further Maths in Year 13............................................................................................................................................46Step by Step – Further Maths in Year 13.....................................................................................................................................46Step by Step – Classes Panel......................................................................................................................................................46Step by Step – Members Panel....................................................................................................................................................47Scenario – Changing Students’ Exam Award (BTEC)..................................................................................................................47Step by Step – Changing Students’ Exam Award.........................................................................................................................48Step by Step – Manage Student Memberships within the BTDi3 Course.....................................................................................48Activity – Attaching QWS QANs...................................................................................................................................................48Scenario – Year 11 English Language and Literature..................................................................................................................49Step by Step – English Literature.................................................................................................................................................49Scenario – Cross Curricular Courses by Student.........................................................................................................................49Step by Step – Cross Curricular Courses by Student...................................................................................................................49Scenario – Dealing with Two Year Courses.................................................................................................................................51Step by Step – Setting GCE2Y Courses as 2 Years by Default....................................................................................................51

Chapter IntroductionThe aim for efficient maintenance of learning aims and the production of the return is to ensure that there is a one to one relationship between the course which exists in Course Manager and the active exam award.

The link between exam awards and courses achieved from within Course Manager in SIMS itself and the information is displayed read-only in Examinations Organiser.

This chapter will explore the maintenance of existing courses and awards and the construction of new courses where necessary to maintain the one to one relationship between courses and awards.

Whilst every effort has been taken to cover most scenarios a school may encounter, it is not possible to cover all. Many scenarios in this chapter can be applied for different levels of qualification. Not all the scenarios in this chapter relate to qualifications which will be included within the Learning Aim Census; as Course Manager functionality is also relevant to other situations which are common in schools, these may also be described within this chapter.

Step by Step – Find Course OptionsThe search options available within Course Manager are significantly amended.

1. Open Course Manager via Tools | Academic Management | Course Manager | Maintain Course.



The shortcut Update All Course Memberships activates the Update Memberships routine.

Reconcile Reports produces the reconciliation reports to a destination folder which are useful for verifying census learning aims information with exam entries or exam results. Further information about these reports can be found in Appendix B.

Courses can be searched for with Description, Short Name, Subject, QAN/Discount Code (this is the QWS QAN), Level(s) and Status or any combination of these items. There is an option to search for courses with or without QN.

The From and To dates reflect the setting selected in View (the default for this is set in Course Manager settings). The courses displayed will be those which have active memberships during the selected date range, and the memberships displayed will be those matching the date range. Previously only memberships relating to the active academic year showed (set in Tools | Academic Management | Set Academic Year). There is no facility to search for active or inactive courses as in previous versions of SIMS. Indeed, courses that contain no members in a four-week period are automatically marked as inactive. In order to show inactive courses, change the View Memberships to View All Courses. Inactive Courses that contain active students will appear in the search but will have the status of Inactive.

NOTE: Options Online looks at all the active and inactive courses within Course Manager. As a housekeeping routine, Course Manager administrators might want to change the status of courses from inactive to obsolete to make the list of courses available in Options Online a bit more manageable.

Reset filters is a quick way of removing all filters previously selected.

2. Type Chem in the Description field and select GCE Advanced Two Year Course from the Level(s) drop-down list. Click Search.

3. Open Chemistry (GCE2Y) and scroll to panel 7: Memberships. Note that students from the academic year 2019-20 and 2020-21 are displayed simultaneously.

4. Click browse and click Reset Filters.

Scenario – After School CourseThe school was running Welsh second language course last year which took place after school for enthusiasts from year 13 and was taught by Mr Geraint Davies. This course is examinable, so exam entries will be required and marksheets will be needed in Assessment. As the course is for post-16 students a QWS QAN code will need to be attached to the course.

Step by Step – After School Course1. Ensure you are in academic year 2019/2020 and select Tools | Academic

Management | Course Manager | Maintain Course.

2. Click New to add a new course.

3. Note the Duration and Tolerance settings. As this is a manually created course these would have to be manually updated as they operate independently of the settings in the Course Manager settings screen. However, leave them as they are for the purposes of this training course.



4. Create a course called Welsh Second Language.

Subject Welsh

Level NQF Level 3

Short Name Accept suggestion

Description Welsh (NQF3)

NOTE: If the subject to allocate the course to is not available in the drop-down list, then the subject may have to be added. This process is covered in the further maths scenario later in this chapter.

5. Set the course as Active.

6. Do not select either of the Auto-update check boxes because the course is not derived from a class and the membership is not based on class membership.

7. Enter appropriate Qualification and Non-Qualification hours.

8. Click Save.

Assigning QWS QANsThis section looks at adding the QWS QAN Classification. It is necessary to have the QWS QAN in place, so that the learning aim will be returned in the census as the students are commencing studying the course this year. In the subsequent year’s census the AO QN would need to be present.

9. Click New alongside the Classification panel and highlight QAN.

10. Scroll through the list of Course Manager QANs to review the available QANs.

11. Use the available filters to find OCR Level 3 NVQ Award in Speaking Welsh (QCF) QAN 50119229 discount code FKWS which was activated manually earlier.

12. Click Save.

It is not possible to attach the examination award as training basedata does not exist for this qualification.

NOTE: Liaise with the exam officer to ensure that this award, if available, is brought into Examinations Organiser and when this is complete attach this award to panel 3 Examination within Course Manager.

This section looks at adding the supervisor.

13. Click the Supervisor hyperlink.

14. Click New and search for Geraint Davies.

15. Select Course Co-ordinator from the Supervisor Title drop-down list.

16. Accept the Start Date of Today and click OK.

This section looks at adding the members.

17. Click the Memberships and Results hyperlink.

18. Click New and filter on the Year 13 students.

19. Select Year Group from the Group Type field, Year 13 from the Group field, change the Effective Date to any suitable date in the last academic year then click Search.

20. Press the Ctrl key and click to select any three year 13 students (ensure that you make a note of their names).

21. Select the over the whole working academic Year radio button and click OK.



22. Click Save to finish.

It will now be possible to use the course in both Examinations Organiser and Assessment to create marksheets.

Activity – Attaching QWS QAN CodesPlease attach QWS QAN 60153271 to English Literature A level course in course manager.

Please update QWS QAN of Mathematics A level course with 60311642 in course manager.

Scenario – Further Maths in Year 13This year one class 13B/Ma1 is taking both A-level maths and A-level further maths.

The timetabler did not make this distinction with different class labels because it was not necessary for timetabling purposes.

Step by Step – Further Maths in Year 131. Select Tools | Setups | Subjects, then click Search.

2. Check the list of available subjects and notice that Further Maths does not exist. If the timetabler had included Further Maths, then this would have automatically generated the subject.

3. Click New to add a new subject.

4. Type Mf (you must use an upper-case M) in the Code and Maths – Further in the Title.

5. For School Workforce purposes, it is necessary to select a DfE subject code to link the school subject to a national list of subject codes for central analysis purposes. Select Mathematics for this subject.

6. It is also necessary to select a subject co-ordinator. Click the field browser icon and Search, select Ms Anne Little.

7. Click Save and then OK to confirm.

8. Select Tools | Academic Management | Course Manager | Maintain Course. If the course manager screen is already open then close it and open it again to refresh.

9. Ensure that you are in academic year 2020/2021.

10. Click New to add a new course.

11. Select a Two Years option from the Normal Duration field.

12. Select Maths - Further from the Subject drop-down list. Select GCE Advanced Two-Year Course (GCE2Y) from the Level(s) drop-down list.

13. Observe the Short Name and Description fields which are generated by default.

14. Mark the course as Active.

15. Select the Auto Update Membership check box (explained below).

16. Click Save.

This time it is intended to use the class to define membership, therefore some of the other details on this panel are required for this scenario.

Although the course will have a class associated with it, there is no relationship between this course and the level code given for the class in Nova-T, so the Auto Update Class Links check box is left deselected.



Since there will be a class linked for membership purposes, the Auto Update Membership check box should be selected.

Step by Step – Classes PanelThe 13B/Ma1 class will be associated with the course.

1. Click New alongside the Classes panel.

2. Remove the Match by Subject tick and locate the 13B/Ma1 class and highlight it.

3. Click OK and the class should appear in the Classes panel. This can be repeated if other classes are needed. It is clearly possible to associate classes with a subject label with courses of another.

4. Click Save to complete the process.

This section looks at the Supervisors panel. Ms Anne Little will be selected again as the supervisor of this course.

5. Click New alongside the Supervisor panel.

6. Enter a few letters of the supervisor’s name in the Surname field, then click Search.

7. Highlight the supervisor and click OK.

8. Select Course Co-ordinator from the Supervisor Title drop-down list. Click Save to complete the process.

Step by Step – Members Panel The Members panel will be populated by the membership of the class linked into the Classes panel. It is possible to add further members manually.

1. Once the course has been created and saved click Update All Course Memberships.

2. Click OK to initiate the procedure.

The Update Course Memberships routine checks the memberships of classes and adjusts memberships of courses accordingly.

3. Reselect the course and observe that the students appear in the Members panel with appropriate course start and end dates.

Exams and Classification PanelAlthough we didn’t link any exam award to this course as there is no existing relevant award in the training data, in reality you would liaise with the exam officer to ensure that this award, when available, is brought into Examinations Organiser. When this is complete, you would attach this award to panel 3 and assign a QWS QAN code in panel 4 within Course Manager.

NOTE: Both the End Date and the Planned End Date are automatically populated with the expected completion date of the course.

Where the Planned End Date remains the same as the End Date the implication is completed or continuing.

NOTE: Delete beside the Members panel is for deleting students from the course where they were incorrectly assigned to the course. This is not the same as terminating a membership.

The Protect check box alongside each student in the Memberships panel will protect course memberships from changes made to class memberships as a result of the Auto Update Memberships check box being selected.



Scenario – Changing Students’ Exam Award (BTEC)Year 12 students started on a BTEC Construction Certificate Level 3 at the beginning of September 2019. Now it has been decided that not all students would be entered for the Level 3 Certificate and some would be entered for the Level 3 Diploma.

Select Tools | Academic Management | Course Manager | Maintain Courses and review the data relating to the Construction (BTCe3) course. Note that the year 12 class have been associated and the members are listed.

This process can be seen as a two-step. First step is to create a new course with a new Exam Level. Second step is to manage the membership of students who have moved to a new course within the Certificate course.

Step by Step – Changing Students’ Exam Award1. Select Tools | Academic Management | Course Manager | Maintain Course.

2. Ensure that you are in academic year 2019/2020.

3. Click New to add a new course and enter the following details:

a. Subject – Constructionb. Level – BTDi3 – BTEC Diploma Level 3

3. Accept the Short Name and Description.

4. Leave both Auto Update check boxes deselected as the course itself and membership of the course is not managed by the existence of a class or class membership.

5. Ensure that Active Status is Active.

6. Click Save.

7. Select the Memberships and Results panel and then click New.

8. Select Class from the Group Type drop-down list and search for the group 12A/Cn1 from the Group browser.

9. Click OK and then Search to populate the list with students.

10. Select three students (you may want to note down their names) and set the date range to the date when the decision was made to move these students from Level 3 Certificate to Level 3 Diploma or Whole Academic Year if this was the case by using an appropriate option on the screen. For this illustration we will use the Whole Academic Year option.


Step by Step – Manage Student Memberships within the Construction BTCe3 Course1. Return to the browser and then click Search to refresh the list. Observe the presence of

the new Construction (BTDi3) course.

2. Select the Construction (BTCe3) course.

3. Move to the Membership and Results panel and locate the three students added to the BTDi3 course earlier. For each click Exception. All three will be moved to the Exceptions panel below. This will truncate their memberships to the course but will keep them in a class register for attendance purposes.

4. Note that status column is yellow which requires attention. Select the status as Transferred for each.

5. Select the appropriate course end date in End column for each. For this illustration it will be the start of the academic year in September 2019.




Activity – Attaching QWS QANs Attach the appropriate QWS QANs to the newly created Diploma course as imported earlier in previous chapter:

BTEC Diploma Level 3 50071373/TE5

Scenario – Year 11 English Language and LiteratureIt is very common practice for the schools now to teach English Language and Literature as two separate GCSEs for most of the students in KS4. The timetabler did not make this distinction with different class labels because it was not necessary for timetabling purposes. In this instance, English Literature course will need to be created in Course Manager for use in Examinations Organiser for entry and results purposes. This will also help to create a marksheet in Assessment Manager to record internal termly assessments.

Step by Step – English Literature1. Ensure that you are in academic year 2020/2021.

2. In Course Manager click New to add a new course with the following details:

a. Subject – English Literatureb. Level – GCSE 9-1 Full Course (GCSNF)

3. Accept the Short Name and Description.

4. Select Active Status as Active.

5. Only select Auto Update Membership check box as English Language classes will be used to manage the memberships to the course.

6. Click Save.

7. Click New from the panel 6 Classes.

8. From a pop up window deselect the Match by Subject checkbox.

9. Locate and select six English classes (3 each on x and y side) using the Ctrl key on the keyboard.

10. Click OK to close the window. Selected classes will now be available in the panel.

11. Click Save.

12. To populate the membership of students in panel 7 Memberships and Results run the Update All Course Memberships routine.

13. Click Refresh to observe the student list.

NOTE: Liaise with the exam officer to ensure that this award, when available, is brought into Examinations Organiser and then attach this award to panel 3 Examination within Course Manager.

This scenario as explained in above Step by Step can also be used for triple Science classes if the timetabler hasn’t used separate class labels for Biology, Chemistry and Physics courses.

Scenario – Cross Curricular Courses by StudentIT is taught at GCSE as an option in Year 11 but all students in Year 11 receive IT input in most subjects and will all be entered for the GCSE short course. A course will be created for use in Examinations Organiser for entry purposes.



Step by Step – Cross Curricular Courses by Student1. Ensure that you have the academic year 2020/2021 selected via Tools | Academic

Management | Set Academic Year or via the SIMS Homepage shortcut.

2. Click New to add a new course and enter the following details:

a) Subject – Information Technology.

b) Level – GCSE Short Course.

Accept the Short Name and Description but do not select the Auto Update check boxes.

3. Ensure that the Active Status is Active.

4. Click Save.

5. Select the Memberships and Results panel and click New.

6. Select Year from the Group Type drop-down list, select Year 11 from the Group browser.

7. Click OK and then Search to populate the list with students.

8. Select all students by highlighting the first student, scrolling to the bottom of the list and holding down the Shift key while highlighting the last student. All students should be highlighted.

9. Set the date range to the whole academic year and then click OK.


New Qualifications have been Introduced which Began for the First Time this YearThis scenario could arise where a subject leader has changed examination boards, or a new specification is available from the same examination board. In this case the subject is the same, the level of study is the same and the timetable structure used is probably the same, but the AO QN and QWS QAN will be different.

Classes will have been created on the timetable and they will have been allocated levels. If the qualification is in the same subject as previously and a course existed previously, the same course will be used with the classes and the QN for the previous year’s qualification will be associated with the course.

It will be necessary to ensure that the new QWS QAN is in the Course Manager Classification list. If it is not it should be imported by selecting Tools | Statutory Return Tools | Update QANs and Discount Codes for Course Manager. n Add the relevant End Date to the previous award in the Exam panel.

n Add the relevant Start Date of the new award in the Exam panel if it exists.

n Attach new QWS QAN in the Classifications panel to new course and add the Start Date.

n Add an End Date to the previous QWS QAN in the Classifications panel.

Dealing with a Two-Year CourseIf your school decides to run two-year linear A level courses to commence in the new academic year, it is important that the intention to deliver a course over two years is reported as part of the school census return.

All true two-year courses must be identified. The school must decide whether all courses at this level will have the same duration. If they will then the duration should be edited via the Course Manager Settings screen. If not, then the course can be edited individually via the Duration and Tolerance panel of the course itself.



Locate the course in Course Manager via Maintain Course and check and amend if necessary the Course Duration. Save the changes and run Update All Course Memberships.

Scenario – Dealing with Two Year CoursesGreen Abbey school started delivering the two year A Levels, the timetabler has used the correct coding of GCE2Y. However, course manager has not been set up correctly and they are showing as one-year courses.

Step by Step – Setting GCE2Y Courses as 2 Years by Default1. Go to Tools | Academic Management | Course Manger | Course Manager Settings.

2. Go to Default Course Duration and Tolerance by Level section and scroll to GCE Advanced Two Year Course (GCE2Y).

3. Change the Default Course Duration to Two Years This will ensure that any new GCE Advanced Two Year Courses are set to two year duration.

Step by Step – Updating & Checking Current GCE Advanced Two-Year Courses1. Go to Tools | Academic Management | Course Manger | Maintain Course.

2. Using the Level drop down select GCE Advanced Two-Year Course.

3. Click Search.

4. Select Art (GCE2Y).



5. Change the Normal Duration from One Year to Two Years.

6. Click Save.

7. Click Update All Course Memberships to update the membership dates to reflect the new two-year duration.

8. To check the course has been updated close the Course Details and Open them again.

9. Click Next. 10. Repeat steps 1 to 6 for the remaining courses that require updating.

NOTE: If you have large number of courses to update, you don’t need to Update All Course Memberships until you have updated all the courses.

NOTE: Course Manager will enable the End Date of the courses to be updated automatically, based on the Course Duration.

Dealing with Incorrect Course LevelThe school has identified that a course has an incorrect level allocated. This may have been because the timetabler was unaware of the correct level at the time of allocating or because a decision has been made to change the type of qualification studied.

Once the academic year where a course has been created is already started, then the timetabler will be unable to use Nova-T to change the course level and a manual change will need to be made in Course Manager.

For example, a course has been created for business GCE2Y which should be BTEC Diploma Level 3.

n If this is noticed before the commencement of the new timetable (before the start of the working academic year) then:

a. Ensure that the correct levels are attached in Nova-T in Tools | Assign Levels.

b. Resend the timetable from Nova-T - If the send can be done for the whole year it will resolve the problem (this is not advised mid-year – this is only advised if the new academic year has not been started).

n If it cannot be sent for the entire year, as the new working academic year has commenced:

a. Edit the exam level allocated to the classes in Nova-T via Tools | Assign Levels, although this would not update the course in Course Manager. However, this may be good practice for future timetable creation using Transfer Curriculum.



b. Ensure that the correct courses are showing as active in Course Manager. If there is no course with the correct level, create a new one.

c. Remove the incorrectly linked classes from the existing course and run the update course membership’s routine to remove the students. Mark the incorrect courses as obsolete and remove the class links (if not being used for any other classes).

d. The new course should only have the Auto Update Membership check box selected.

e. The classes will need to be manually added in the Classes panel of the correct course using New.

f. Run Update Course Memberships and the members of the classes will automatically be assigned to the course, with the same memberships start and end dates.

NOTE: Update Course Memberships updates the memberships for the active academic year (the current year set in Tools | Academic Management | Set Academic Year).

g. Subsequent transfers from Nova-T would report that the class cannot have its links updated as it is associated with another course during the date range and will not overwrite any manual work which has been completed in Course Manager.

h. After creating the new courses, you would need to make sure that the exam awards and elements are attached appropriately to the new course and the QWS QAN is imported and attached.



09Core Learning Aim

This chapter contains:Chapter Introduction.....................................................................................................................................................................55Step by Step – Identifying an Individual Student’s Core Learning Aim.........................................................................................56Step by Step – Identifying a Core Learning Aim at Course Level.................................................................................................57

Chapter IntroductionSchools need to identify and record the core learning aim (the principal or “core” qualification) for those students undertaking a study programme that includes vocational learning aims. It is not required for students on a purely academic programme.

This data will need to be recorded for each academic year as it is required for funding purposes.

The core aim is used:

a. to calculate programme cost weighting

b. to determine whether a student is retained on the programme or not, and

c. whether the programme is academic or vocational.

Determining the Core AimThe core aim is the most important or central element of the programme, around which the rest of the programme is built. It will usually be the component with the largest amount of timetabled activity associated with it.



The table below indicates those qualification types that are academic. If the student’s core aim in the ILR is not one of the listed types, the student’s programme is vocational. For the school census the same logic applies, with the addition that if the core aim is not returned for a student (the core aim is not mandatory in the school census) their programme will be deemed academic.

Core Aims in Academic Programmes

Level Qualification types

3 GCEs: AS, A2, A with AS levels; double awards count as two academic qualifications (General Studies and Critical Thinking are excluded).

IB Diploma.

IB Certificates.

Cambridge Pre-U Diploma.

Access to HE Diploma.

2 GCSEs – including vocational.

GCSE short courses.

Free standing maths qualifications (FSMQs).

(Extract from ESFA Funding Guidance for young people 2019/2020 – Funding rates and formula).

“A Levels in Critical Thinking and General Studies should not be core aims. However, the planned hours associated with them should be included in the total for the purposes of determining the planned programme hours.”

The Core Aim can be identified in the following ways:

a. Individually to student via Focus | Student | Courses.

b. Globally at course level via Tools | Academic Management | Maintain Course.

c. There is an option to add and edit this data via the Autumn School Census Return available via Routines | Statutory Returns | School Census (not recommended).

Step by Step – Identifying an Individual Student’s Core Learning AimThis is available from within the route Focus | Student | Courses (this is the same route as using the Courses link from within an individual student record).

1. Ensure that the academic year 2019/2020 is selected via Tools | Academic Management | Set Academic Year.

2. Select Focus | Student | Courses.

3. Locate and open the record of Fiona Jackett.



4. Click on the Cn/BTCe3 and note that Set Core Aim (top right) becomes active, as shown in the graphic displayed below.

5. Click Set Core Aim and note that the selected course becomes bold and has (Core Learning Aim) added.

6. Click Save.

7. Other students can be located either by using Next and Previous in this window or by returning to Browse for further selection.

NOTE: Set Core Aim is only available for students in NC Year 12 or above.

Further information on Core Learning Aims can be found in the ESFA Funding Guidance for young people 2019/20 Funding rates and Formula.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/809266/Funding_rates_and_formula_201920_v2.pdf



Step by Step – Identifying a Core Learning Aim at Course LevelIt may be that the core learning aim for a group of students on the same course is the same. If this is the case, then rather than setting the core aim individually it will be easier to do it by course.

1. Ensure that the academic year 2019/2020 is selected via Tools | Academic Management | Set Academic Year.


3. Locate and open the Construction (BTDi3) course as created in Chapter 8.

4. Select the Memberships panel and note that the Core Aim column is not available. This is because the default view of Census is selected rather than a single academic year.

5. Click browse and change View Memberships to Current Academic Year. 6. Re-open the course and note that the Core Learning aim column is now available.

7. Click into the Core Aim column for an individual student and click Save.

8. Click on that student’s name which will take you to their individual courses screen. Note that the Core Aim is highlighted in bold.

9. Close the individual course screen to return to the Construction (BTDi3) course screen.

10. In the Core Aim column, by right clicking an option will appear for you to Set this course as Core Aim for all these students (student list may vary).

11. Click on this option which will tick the Core Aim column for all students.

12. Click Save.

NOTE: The census return will also allow a school to enter more than one learning aim for a student for an academic year as long as they are for courses where the memberships do not overlap.

Changes made to the core learning aim from that collected via Course Manager will be highlighted in yellow on this screen.



10Post-16 Programmes of Study

This chapter contains:Chapter Introduction.....................................................................................................................................................................61Step by Step – Updating Post–16 Programme of Study Data Manually.......................................................................................62Step by Step – Updating Post–16 Programme of Study Data from Courses................................................................................63Step by Step – Updating the Post–16 Study Programme Hours Manually...................................................................................63Step by Step – Allocating Programme of Study Hours to Courses...............................................................................................64Activity – Work Experience...........................................................................................................................................................65Step by Step – Populating Individual Post-16 Programmes of Study Hours from Courses...........................................................65Step by Step – Populating Course Post-16 Programme Study Hours from Qualification Level Hours..........................................66

Chapter IntroductionThe reform of 16-19 education has led to changes in the way that the post-16 funding formula is calculated.

In line with this the data items collected from schools as part of the autumn school census has changed to include the collection of planned qualification and non-qualification hours. A route has been incorporated into Course Manager in order to allocate these hours via Tools | Academic Management | Course Manager | Post-16 Programmes of Study.

SIMS DfE

Planned qualification hours Planned learning hours

The total time the student will spend studying qualifications

Planned non-qualification hours Planned employability, enrichment and pastoral hours

The total time the student will spend on other activity such as, work-related learning, employability skills, enrichment activities, volunteering, and pastoral activity

NOTE: Further information on learning hours can be found at: -

https://www.gov.uk/16-to-19-funding-planned-hours-in-study-programmes

From autumn 2019, the previous year’s total planned qualification and non-qualification hours for all post 16 pupils who were on roll in the previous academic year and in national curriculum year 12 or above will also be collected. The previous year fields must be populated from the previous autumn census return. The values in these fields can be corrected, where appropriate, so previous year data is complete and accurate.

Planned hours must not be changed to reflect actual hours.



These qualification hours can be recorded in the following ways:

At Qualification Level (for example, GCE2Y) via Tools | Academic Management | Course Manager | Course Manager Settings. This will then filter through to any courses of that Qualification level.

Course Level via Tools | Academic Management | Maintain Course. These hours can then be calculated for all post-16 students, groups or individual students via the route Tools | Academic Management | Course Manager | Post-16 Programmes of Study.

If hours have not been entered via courses then hours can be manually allocated for all post-16 students, groups or individual students via the route Tools | Academic Management | Course Manager | Post-16 Programmes of Study.

Maintaining Post-16 Programmes of StudyThe maintain Post-16 Programmes of Study screen is accessed via Tools | Academic Management | Course Manager | Post-16 Programmes of Study. With recent changes to the autumn 2020 data collection this screen has been updated since SIMS summer 2020 release to accommodate the new data requirements.

There are seven new columns in this area which represents the changes to the data collection. All of these columns are applicable to all secondary schools regardless of the introduction of T levels. These columns should be populated accordingly.

Academic YearPost-16 Programme Study Hours and other data items are academic year specific. Therefore, when completing this screen ensure that you are in the correct academic year using the Academic Year filter at the top of the screen.

ESFA: Funding Guidance Regulations for young people 2019 to 2020:

If the student is on a study programme that spans more than one funding year, the planned hours recorded in the data return must be set at the start of each funding year to only reflect the planned hours for the funding year from 1 August 2019 and 31 July 2020. Timetabled hours for any learning aims, or other activities that are not funded by the ESFA must not be included in the total number of hours recorded in these fields.

Step by Step – Updating Post–16 Programme of Study Data Manually If schools wish to update the data items manually then this can be done via this screen for individuals or group of students.

1. Ensure that academic year 2020/2021 is selected from the list.

2. Highlight a group of students from the list and select the Study Programme option from the Programme Type column as well as relevant Start and Planned End dates.

3. Click Save.



Extra row can be added to indicate transfer to a different programme type by using Transfer Programme button available on the screen. Similarly, a row can be removed using a Remove Programme button. There is also a button available to reset the data related to programme of study on the screen.

Step by Step – Updating Post–16 Programme of Study Data from Courses 1. Ensure that academic year 2020/2021 is selected from the list.

2. Select Year Taught In 12 from the list.

3. Right mouse click and use Select All option to highlight all year 12 students.

4. Click Calculate Programmes of Study button which should populate the relevant data columns where possible according to the data stored in course manager.

5. Click Save.

Step by Step – Updating the Post–16 Study Programme Hours ManuallyIf schools do not wish to enter the hours via the courses, then the hours can be added via the Post-16 Programmes of Study screen.

1. Open the route Tools | Academic Management | Course Manager | Post-16 Programmes of Study.

2. This screen will display all post-16 students and their courses for the Academic Year displayed at the top of the screen. Ensure that 2020/2021 is the selected year.

3. The Qual Hours and the Non-Qual Hrs can be directly edited by simply highlighting the student and typing in the required hours into the appropriate column.

4. The TT Hours column is to assist schools with the hours a week the student studies all the courses shown on their row. To allow for longer cycles, the number of periods of the class on the cycle is divided by the number of days in the cycle and multiplied by 5.

5. In the Level filter select GCE2Y and in the Occurrences change this to = (equal to) and 5.

6. These students are doing 5 A-Level qualifications. If we assumed that the school taught these at 150 hours each then these students would need 750 Qualification hours entered. Type 750 into the box above the Qual Hours column.

7. Right-click on the students and choose Select All. 8. Consider using the Overwrite existing values tick if any students displayed have

values entered.

9. Click the green arrow next to where you have entered 750. The Qual Hours and Total Hours fields will be updated for all the selected students.

10. Click Save.

11. You have since been advised that students who study General Studies at A level have additional time over the year and require an additional 20 hours to be added.

12. Select General Studies from the Subject filter to restrict the list to those students in studying General Studies.

13. Type 20 into the box above the Qual Hours column.

14. Right-click on the students and choose Select All.



15. Ensure that Overwrite existing values is ticked and click the green arrow next to where you have entered 20.

16. Note the options you are presented with in the block fill planned hours window. Choose the option to add 20 to the existing value.

17. You may want to use the Notes section to keep a record of non-timetabled hours, for example, lunchtime or to add a note regarding what the extra hours are for.

18. Right-click on the students and choose Select All. 19. On the bottom student type into the Notes section extra lunch hours for GenSt.

This should populate into the Notes field for all the selected students.

20. Click Save.

NOTE: The other right-click options on a student record allow you to be linked directly to the student details screen or to view the individual student courses screen.

Students can also be selected by using Shift and left-click to select contiguous students and Ctrl and left-click to select non-contiguous students.

21. All students in year 12 and 13 do 39 hours of enrichment type activities organised by the school.

22. Click on Reset filters so that all Year 12 and 13 students are available.

23. Right-click and choose Select All.24. Type 39 in the field above the Non-Qual Hrs column. Click the green arrow to update

this figure for all students.

25. Click Save.

26. Right-click on Graham Abbess and select Student Courses. The Planned Qualification and Non-Qualification hours have been populated.

27. Close the individual student courses screen and the Post-16 Programmes of Study screen.

Step by Step – Allocating Programme of Study Hours to CoursesNone of the Linear two-year courses in SIMS currently have hours allocated to them. If you want the hours to calculate from membership to the courses, then these must be entered. This is a time-consuming way to allocate hours to the courses, but we will look another way which delegates might find useful and quicker to achieve the same result in another Step by Step on Page 65.

1. Open Maintain Course via Tools | Academic Management | Course Manager | Maintain Course.

2. Locate and open the Chemistry (GCE2Y) Course.



3.

4. In panel 2: Basic, edit the hours to 170 in the Qualification field.

5. Click Save.

Activity – Work Experience Some year 13 students who are retaking level 2 qualifications take part in work experience organised by the school. Whilst this is not timetabled, it is organised and attendance is monitored by the school. The planned Non-Qualification hours for the course are 70. QWS QANs are available for work experience. Search for QAN codes beginning with Z and import a suitable QAN. Create an appropriate course for this and allocate the following students for a two week period from 01/10/2019 to 12/10/2019:

n Stan Ackton

n Alexis Affleck

n Dolores Bark

n Wendy Barr

NOTE: Work experience may not happen for the whole academic year. Only courses active on the census date will be collected in the Maintain Programme of Study screen.

Step by Step – Populating Individual Post-16 Programmes of Study Hours from Courses1. Open the route Tools | Academic Management | Course Manager | Post-16

Programmes of Study.

2. This screen will display all post-16 students and their courses for the academic year displayed at the top of the screen.

3. We now want to populate the hours we entered against the courses against the students. Click Calculate Hours from Courses.

4. Notice the message displayed:

The message states that only one student will be updated and that existing values will not be overwritten. We would like all students to be updated and existing values to be overwritten.



5. Click Cancel of the message and highlight all students using a right-click and choosing Select All.

NOTE: The other right-click options on a student record allow you to be linked directly to the student details screen or to view the individual student courses screen.

Students can also be selected by using Shift and left-click to select contiguous students and Ctrl and left-click to select non-contiguous students.

6. Tick the box to Overwrite existing values.

7. Click on Calculate Hours from Courses. Notice the difference in the message this time. Click OK to confirm.

8. The screen will be populated using the values entered against the courses.

9. Click Save.

10. Pick Chemistry from the Subject filter to display just those students doing Chemistry. The data displayed should be appropriate based on the hours we entered against courses.

Step by Step – Populating Course Post-16 Programme Study Hours from Qualification Level Hours1. Select Tools | Academic Management | Course Manager | Maintain Course.

2. Click Search and locate the Construction (BTDi3).3. Double click on Construction (BTDi3) and note that the planned hours for both

Qualification and Non-Qualification are blank.

4. Close the course.

5. Open the Course Manager Settings screen via Tools | Academic Management | Course Manager | Course Manager Settings.

6. In the panel at the bottom of the screen, locate the BTEC Diploma Level 3 (BTDi3) level and allocate 200 Default Qualification Hours.

7. You may need to populate the Folder for Results Report field. Ensure there is a location in this field and click Save.

8. Re-open the Construction Course via Tools | Academic Management | Course Manager | Maintain Course. Note that the Qualification Hours are now populated.

NOTE: Courses that have been edited manually will be preserved from the global update by level.

9. You may wish to revisit the Tools | Academic Management | Course Manager | Post 16 Programmes of Study screen to update the hours based on the course changes just made.

NOTE: Post-16 Programme of Study fields are available in Design Report.



NOTE: Any students with learning aims, and without post-16 study programme hours, will generate census error 2775 “The sum of planned learning hours and planned employability, enrichment and pastoral hours is very low.”

If none of the students have post-16 learning hours this will generate census query 1999Q.

If any students’ post-16 Learning hours have been entered in error and the total hours is above 4000 hours it will generate census error 1997 “The sum of planned learning hours and planned employability, enrichment and pastoral hours must not be greater than 4,000 hours.”



11 Prior Attainment

This chapter contains:Chapter Introduction.....................................................................................................................................................................67Step by Step – Prior Attainment...................................................................................................................................................67

Chapter IntroductionThe prior attainment (for example, highest grade achieved) for maths and English GCSE should be recorded for each student who are/were in year 12 and above between 01/08/2019 and 01/10/2020. This data is used to fund schools and therefore, it is important that the information is recorded accurately.

From autumn 2019 census onwards, maths and English GCSE highest prior attainment from previous year will also be collected. The values in these fields can be corrected, where appropriate, so previous year data is complete and accurate.

NOTE: More information can be found at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/16-to-19-funding-maths-and-english-condition-of-funding for 16 to 19 maths and English condition of funding.

Block 2 funding data is only based on English Language GCSE and not English Literature GCSE. DfE hasn’t made this explicit in the past but they have now in their latest guidance.

Since Spring 2016 It has been possible to include previous school exam results via CTF provided the sending school is a SIMS school.

Step by Step – Prior Attainment1. Go to Tools | Statutory Return Tools | Update Prior Attainment.

The grid shows all of the students in year 12 or above for the required date range. From SIMS summer 2020 release, there is a new column for English Language Highest Grade which will determine the status of English Language Prior Attainment (re-labelled). Two of the existing columns have been re-labelled for clarity.

2. Click Reset only if the training data is already populated, to clear the grid.

Prior Attainment 67


3. Click Yes to clear the grid.

4. Click Populate from Exams and click Yes to populate the grid.

This pulls through the data held in Examinations Organiser module and completes the grid for those students who were present in the previous year 11 in the school and completed maths and English Language or Literature exams.

NOTE: The criteria used when populating the Prior Attainment grid with data from Examinations Organiser includes GCSEs from Exams Organiser, Edit PI and External Results is as follows:

GCSE English

Discount Codes: 5110, 5010, 5030, FC4, FK2A, FK2B.

GCSE Maths

Discount Codes: 2210, 2214, 2212, RB1, RB1G, RB7J.

5. Students who were not on roll at the school for the previous year 11 or who are in current year 13 having joined the school in year 12, or who have had an examination remark will need to be completed manually. Select Graham Abbess and click on the Maths Highest Grade column.

6. Change the Grade to 4.

7. Click into Maths Prior Attainment column. This column is to indicate when the student achieved the attainment or if they have not achieved the qualification.

8. Select Achieved since year 11.

9. Click the Maths Funding Exemption column. The exemption column is used to show if the student is exempt from the requirement. Click in the required cell in the Maths Funding Exemption column and select the applicable value from the drop-down list:

Prior Attainment 68


Learning disability (a learning disability prevents the student from studying for the qualification(s)

Overseas equivalent (a recognised overseas equivalent qualification is held by the student)

UK equivalent (the learner has met the GCSE condition of funding they hold an approved equivalent UK qualification).

10. Select No exemption and then Save.

NOTE: There are three exemptions to the condition of funding:

* students with special educational needs and/or disabilities, who are assessed as not able to study either GCSE or stepping stone qualification.

* students with overseas qualifications that are established as equivalent to GCSE grade 4 or grade C.

* students with a grade 2 or below in Maths or English can study towards a pass in functional skills level 2 (legacy or reformed) or they can still study towards a GCSE grade 9 to 4. Once they have achieved this, there is no requirement to undertake further Maths or English qualifications to meet the condition of funding.

Further detail on Exemption Criteria can be found at : https://www.gov.uk/guidance/complete-the-school-census/autumn-term

Prior Attainment is Validated as part of the census return and if data is missing it will generate the following errors:-

If maths Prior Attainment is missing it will produce Error 3000 (maths GCSE attainment is missing or invalid).

If the maths Prior Attainment reason is missing it will produce Error 3005 (The stage at which the learner achieved a maths GCSE at grade A*-C/9-4 or not is missing or invalid).

If English Prior Attainment is missing it will produce Error 3010 (English GCSE attainment is missing or invalid).

If the English Prior Attainment reason is missing it will produce Error 3015 (The stage at which the learner achieved an English GCSE at grade A*-C/9-4 or not is missing or invalid).

My Account Updated 24/08/2015 16:40 - Prior Attainment Grade of A^ (A* with Distinction) Triggers Validation Errors

Although unusual, it is possible for students to achieve the equivalent of a GCSE A^ (A* with distinction) for Prior Attainment in Maths and/or English. We have taken this into account by allowing this higher grade to be entered in the Prior Attainment application. However, the DfE tell us that school must report A* for the GCSE equivalent in this situation. Reporting A* with Distinction for Prior Attainment in the Census will result in validation error 3000 (Maths) or 3010 (English).

Prior Attainment 69


Prior Attainment 70


12 Student Memberships


Chapter Introduction.....................................................................................................................................................................69Step by Step – Make Adjustments to Class Memberships in Academic Management.................................................................70Step by Step – Creating a Learning Aim Error to View in the School Census..............................................................................72Step by Step – Running a Student Courses Report.....................................................................................................................73Step by Step – Managing Retakes (non prior attainment)............................................................................................................74

Chapter IntroductionStudent membership to courses is normally automatic by virtue of the student being a member of a class associated with the course. Where this is not the case, the membership would have to be maintained within Course Manager.

It may be useful at this point to think of a student’s membership at two levels:

The preceding diagram is intended to show that under normal circumstances course membership is derived from class membership (Update Course Memberships would normally be automatic when working at class level).

However, the following may also be true:

a. a student can be a member of a class but not the corresponding course (this situation would need to be protected to ensure Course Manager does not override the change).

b. a student can be a member of a course where there are no corresponding classes (membership of the course would need to be managed manually).

NOTE: Update Course Memberships updates the memberships for the active academic year (the current year set in Tools | Academic Management | Set Academic Year).

What Situations May Have an Impact on Courses?Students who are in the year taught in range (year 12 and above) for census need to have their membership to courses tracked and recorded for funding purposes and the reporting of performance data.

a. a student drops a course and will no longer attend the classes. This needs to be classed as withdrawing (Withdrawn) and a withdrawal reason will need to be provided.

Student Memberships 71


b. a student is swapping courses so they may be changing from one class and associated course to another (swapping from one class to another associated with the same course does not affect the course membership). This needs to be classed as transferring (Transferred).

The following step by step will explore some of these scenarios using academic management routines to terminate class memberships, swap class memberships and the additional completion management functionality which is active for the years specified in Course Manager Settings (earliest YTI for completion management). The academic management routines offer different routes to achieve the same purpose and these are covered in the Academic Management course.

NOTE: The Completion Management functionality currently only operates when working in the route Focus |School |Academic Management |Curriculum Assignment by Student (which is the same route as using the Student Curriculum link from within a student record).

The functionality is NOT currently available via the route Focus |School |Academic Management |Curriculum Assignment by Scheme.

The changes made to a student’s memberships are also influenced by the Completion and Continuity Tolerance settings. The effect of these settings will be covered in the next chapter.

For this exercise, you will operate from the Student Details view and use the link to Student Curriculum.

Step by Step – Make Adjustments to Class Memberships in Academic Management1. Ensure that you are in the Academic Year 2019/20.

2. Click the Student Details short cut and click Search, select and open a record of any Year 12 or 13 student from the list.

3. Observe the Student Curriculum and Course Details using the relevant options in the Links panel. Pay particular attention to the date range of course memberships on the Courses link.

4. The Student Courses drop-down list contains the options: Current Academic Year, Current Course Memberships, Previous Academic Year and Custom – which activates From and To date fields to enable any date range to be selected.

The graphic below is an example and may not match your screen:



NOTE: Report at the top of the Student Courses screen will produce a report of the courses for the student within the selected date range. Further information on Student Course reports is available later in this chapter.

5. Click Close.

6. Select Links | Student Curriculum, then select a Custom Date range from 2nd October 2019 to the end of the academic year and click OK.

7. Right-click the first Option scheme in the list and select a different class to assign the

student to (taking care not to assign them to a subject they are already taking in a different option scheme).

8. Observe the change in the orange time-lines.

9. Click Save and the following screen will be displayed. This will prompt staff members to confirm the completion Status (if the transfer is within the Completion Tolerance setting then this would default to Completed rather than Transferred). For this illustration select Transferred.



10. Click OK, then check the Courses link again to see the result of the changes.

11. Right-click on second of the Option schemes and select the Remove from Class… option.

12. Observe the change in the orange time-lines. Make a note of the Class Withdrawn From.

13. Click Save. The following screen will be displayed. This will prompt staff members to confirm the completion Status of Withdrawn. A withdrawal reason must also be provided from the list below:

Code

Lookup Description DFE Description

1 Other provider (gov) Learner has transferred to another provider to undertake learning which meets a specific government strategy

2 Other provider Learner has transferred to another provider

3 Injury/Illness Learner injury/illness

4 Financial Financial reasons

44 Personal Other personal reasons

45 Exclusion Exclusion

97 Other Other

98 Not Known Reason not known

14. Select the reason Other and click OK.

15. You may want to open the Courses link to see the result of this change.

Wherever possible the status will be completed based on the following rules:

a. Class membership ended within the completion tolerance setting for the course. Status will default to Completed.

b. Class membership ended outside of completion tolerance setting for the course. Status will default to Withdrawn.

c. A class membership ended and a balancing class memberships started. Status will default to Transferred.

d. More class memberships started than class memberships ended. No default for status will be applied.

ErrorsThe data we use in the training has little or no errors when we create the school census. It may be useful for us to explore using SIMS in such a way that creates an error.



Step by Step – Creating a Learning Aim Error to View in the School Census1. Locate and open Paolo Aloia student record.

2. Click onto the Student Curriculum link on the right-hand side.

3. Change to a Custom Date Range from 2nd October 2019 to the default end date.

4. Right-click on the grey area of 13a Option B and choose to Remove from class 13B/Hi1.

5. Click Save.

6. The Course Memberships window is displayed. Rather than selecting OK to accept the chose status of Withdrawn, click Cancel.

7. Click Close to close the Student Curriculum Summary screen.

8. You may want to see the effect of this on the Courses Link.

We may explore the effect of this on the school census return in Chapter 15.

NOTE: This would have the result of creating a Learning Aim Status is missing or Invalid error in the census return. Using the Curriculum Assignment by Scheme screen to make changes to student curriculum is also likely to result in this error.

Student Courses ReportThis functionality, available via Tools | Academic Management | Course Manager | Student Courses Report is to enable schools to check student memberships to courses and their status over a specified date range. This is similar to the information and filters available in the census return, but the date in the census return is fixed.

This routine may be useful for checking student memberships to courses prior to the census functionality being available.

Step by Step – Running a Student Courses Report1. Select Tools | Academic Management | Course Manager | Student Courses Report.2. Filter the Year Taught In to highlight those in curriculum year 12.

3. This shows a list of all the courses to which those students have had membership over the specified date range.

4. The default order (Grouping) of the report is alphabetical by student. This can be changed to Reg Group order (this may be preferable before printing). The Paging option deals with the page breaks when printing the report.

5. Change the Course Status to Continuing and click Search. This will show the students continuing on two-year courses into the next academic year.

6. Click Report to display a layout of the report.

7. Close the report.

Student LeaversIt is important to ensure that learning aim information is updated correctly and that students are made to leave via Routines | Students | Leavers.

As a result of this routine, class memberships are terminated, and the membership of the associated course is terminated without needing to use the Update Course Memberships routine.

Learning Aim Withdrawal Reason will need to be provided for students in post-16 year groups.



Managing Student RetakesMost retakes for the sixth form are not funded, but those forced by the lack of prior attainment in maths and English are funded as explained in Chapter 3 of the booklet. It is very important for the school to remember not to use the Non Funded (formerly Retakes) column in the course manager for the retakes forced by lack of prior attainment in maths and English.

Step by Step – Managing Retakes (non prior attainment)1. Select Tools | Academic Management | Course Manager | Maintain Course.

2. Search for Theatre Studies (GCE2Y) course and double click to open it.

3. Got to panel 7 Memberships and Results and put a tick in the Non Funded column by clicking inside the cell for Alexis Affleck.

4. Click Save.

5. Click on Alexis Affleck’s name to jump to the courses screen for the student and observe the Non Funded (retake) flag.



13 Post-16 Likely Scenarios


Chapter Introduction.....................................................................................................................................................................75Step by Step – Bulk Update.........................................................................................................................................................75

Chapter IntroductionThis chapter outlines further information on the Course Manager settings and how to use these to deal with likely Post-16 scenarios:

Bulk Update RoutinesThe Bulk Update routine enables schools to retrospectively correct historical data that may have been defined incorrectly. It has two different functions:

Remove August End DatesIf schools in England have inadvertently set the end date for classes to a date in August, this date becomes the membership planned end date for courses. This can result in some courses being excluded from the funding calculations. To prevent this becoming an annual problem that requires manual intervention, it is possible to run the remove August end dates Bulk Update routine that changes the dates to 31st July.

Use Completion Tolerance to Reset StatusThe most common example of needing to use this routine is where students have been made to leave the school (bulk year 13 leavers) prior to the planned end date of the course. If this was done prior to the introduction of completion tolerance, or outside the parameters of the completion tolerance, then it may have resulted in a status of Withdrawn being applied to those students and their respective courses. The introduction of completion tolerance should greatly reduce the need to this routine.

NOTE: You are strongly advised to run a report of the action the software would carry out by clicking Report prior to Execute.

Step by Step – Bulk Update1. Select Tools | Academic Management | Course Manager | Bulk Update Courses.



1. In the first panel - Remove August End Dates, click Report. Note the report states that no course dates need to be updated. Close the report.

2. Open the Theatre Studies GCE2Y course via Tools | Academic Management | Course Manager and edit the entry for Alexis Affleck so both the End date for his record and the P End date are the 31/08/2020.

3. Click Save.

4. Re-run the Remove August End Dates report. Notice that there is now an entry for Alexis Affleck and note the suggested action of the routine.

5. Click Close to close the report and click Execute.

NOTE: The resulting report shows that the End Date and Planned End Date have been amended to the 31/07/2020.

NOTE: This rather unlikely example highlights the functionality of this route. Bulk Update would be useful if the situation had arisen for many students.

Student Re-admissionsIf the student is re-admitted with a gap in their on-roll status to say they left and returned, the student can be reassigned to the original courses and the Update Course Memberships routine can be executed.

The student will now have multiple course membership records with appropriate date ranges, one showing a Start Date, an End Date and a Planned End Date and a Status of Withdrawn and a second showing a Start Date after the previous End Date and No Planned End Date and therefore no Status (which is correct).

Census will interpret this correctly – two learning aims (which can be the same), one with a Completion Status of Withdrawn and the second showing as Continuing.

All of the student’s learning aims will be treated in this way.

Starting Next Year’s Timetable EarlySome schools change their timetable for the last part of the final term of the current academic year to commence next year’s curriculum early. Other schools change their timetable for the last part of the final term of the current academic year to enable extra-curricular and bridging projects which are not directly related to next year’s curriculum.

With regard to the sixth form learning aims census it is important to decide when starting the next academic year early which situation is applicable:

n Where an early commencement of the next academic year is an early start to the course, it should be recorded as such in Course Manager. This enables the learning aims to be dealt with correctly in the post-16 learning aims census (courses should have the correct QWS QAN classification).



n Where an early commencement of the next academic year is an opportunity for extra-curricular of or bridging projects not directly related to next year’s course. Courses should be assigned a level of other so that these courses are not collected by the post-16 learning aims.



14 Preparing for the Census Return


Chapter Introduction.....................................................................................................................................................................77Step by Step – Post-16 Employment............................................................................................................................................78

Chapter IntroductionBefore the census return is created a certain amount of preparation is necessary. This is to ensure that all the components which will be collected for the Post-16 element of the census are present. This chapter covers the process of checking these components are present.

Preparation ChecklistThe following processes need to be completed before the census return is calculated:

Process Completed

Ensure the correct Exam Levels have been allocated to the 2020/21 timetable prior to import into SIMS. Amend any incorrect levels prior to the start of the academic year, if possible.

Check that all appropriate courses have been created in Course Manager for the new academic year after the timetable import into SIMS.

Amend and add any new courses required as necessary in maintain course.

Upgrade to SIMS Summer 2020 release.

Ensure the latest fileset has been imported to ensure that the census validation rules are up to date.

Import Exam Board basedata into Examinations Organiser and restructure if necessary.

Check that all post-16 courses have a link to exams base data (if available) within Course Manager.

Deal with post-16 leavers.

Verify learning aim status are correct for leavers and use bulk update to amend if necessary.

Set appropriate course duration, continuity tolerance, discount results and completion tolerance settings.



Process Completed

Deal with two year courses.

Import the latest QWS QAN catalogue.

Check for any expired, duplicate or missing QWS QANs and update where necessary.

Ensure that ALL courses for which post-16 students are a member have a QWS QAN attached. This may not be appropriate for non-qualification courses.

Import the examination results from the awarding bodies into Examinations Organiser.

Ensure that any results where no basedata is available are entered into the Edit PI Data area for any post-16 students.

Ensure the Core Aim information has been added for students on a vocational or mixed programme of study for the academic year 2019/20 as well as 2020/21.

Ensure that appropriate Planned Qualification and Non-Qualification Study Hours have been entered for all post-16 students for the academic year 2019/20 as well as 2020/21. Review the hours for previous academic year and make corrections if any.

Ensure new data items related to the introduction of T Levels are recorded in Course Manager and Post-16 Programmes of Study areas of SIMS.

Ensure that Prior Attainment in maths and English have been entered for all post-16 students for current as well as previous academic year. Review the data for previous academic year and make corrections if any.

Ensure Resits and Retakes are recorded correctly according to the guidelines.

Ensure that UKPRN (if applicable) is correctly recorded for the students or at the course level.

Ensure that Employment Hours have been entered via the student records in the Post-16 Employment area of the Additional Information panel. This is required for all post-16 students working 20 or more hours on census date. This should not include evening or weekend work.

Step by Step – Post-16 EmploymentAlthough not directly related to the post-16 learning aims, schools do need to ensure that employment hours are recorded for all students working full time (20 hours or more) on census date. These hours should not include weekend or evening work.



Extract from DfE Complete the school census autumn term (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/complete-the-school-census/autumn-term)

We need this data for on roll pupils.

Under the raising the participation age (RPA) policy post-16 pupils must be in full-time education/training unless they are in full-time employment (20 hours or more per week). More information on RPA is available on GOV.UK.

1. Where a young person’s employment hours vary, we consider employment of an average of 40 or more hours over a two-week period as meeting the requirement. Part-time work (for example a weekend or evening job) is not affected by these requirements. This field indicates pupils who are in full-time employment and are therefore eligible for part-time education/training. Open Alexis Affleck (year 13) record.

2. Go to the Additional Information panel and locate the Post-16 Employment box.

3. Click on New located to the right of the panel.

4. Add a Start Date of today and leave the End Date empty. Type 20 in the Hours/Week field. Click OK.

5. Click Save.



15 Running the Census Return


Chapter Introduction.....................................................................................................................................................................81Step by Step – Creating a New Return.........................................................................................................................................81Step by Step – Removing or Adding a Learning Aim Directly to the Census (Optional)...............................................................86Step by Step – Create and Validate the Return............................................................................................................................88Step by Step – Viewing the Summary Report and Detailed Reports............................................................................................88Step by Step – Viewing Reports from Previous Returns...............................................................................................................89Step by Step – Authorising the Return.........................................................................................................................................89

Chapter IntroductionOnce all courses have appropriate memberships and have been linked to the correct QAN the census return can be run. This chapter will look at the parts of school census relevant to post-16 learning aims.

NOTE: The school census contains more than the post-16 learning aims census and this chapter does not detail the maintenance or production of these components of the census. Please refer to the appropriate documentation and liaise with the person responsible for the production of these additional components before authorising and sending the return.

Ensure that the latest fileset has been imported via Tools | Setups | Import Fileset before creating the census return to ensure the up to date validation rules are applied to your data. This file is available via My Account or via your local authority.

There are a number of stages to completing a census return:

n create a new return

n update the fileset if necessary

n calculate the data

n check the details and make any necessary amendments

n validate the return

n check any queries and resolve any additional errors

n view the detailed and summary reports

n authorise the return.

Step by Step – Creating a New Return1. Select Routines | Statutory Returns | School Census.

Running the Census Return 84


2. The Term should default to the appropriate census period. If necessary, select the correct term from the Term drop-down list.

3. Check the location of the Census Folder and change it if necessary. This folder should

be accessible to all staff members and workstations on which the school census return will be run. For this course; R:\SIMS\CENSUS Returns is the correct location.

NOTE: Ensure that only appropriately authorised personnel can access this folder, as it will be used to hold sensitive data.

4. Ensure that the security message for reports is appropriate for your school.

5. Click New to create a new return.

6. The Census Details panel will show the census reference dates. Note that these fields

are read-only, except Description which can be edited if required (for example, to denote a dry run of the census).

7. Click Calculate All Details.

8. Click Yes.

These details should now be checked and amended if necessary.

NOTE: If Calculate All Details is clicked again any manual changes that have been made will be overwritten.

9. Click Save.



Source for Learning Aims DataTwo options are available here:

a. Populate planned end dates from previous returns (default) – this is useful to ensure continuity of data from previous returned data. If a Planned End Date has been changed in Course Manager then selecting this option will populate the Planned End Date from the previous returned data.

b. Populate planned ends dates from course manager – this would be useful if previously returned data had been incorrect. An example of this may be that a two year course was not set up correctly when the autumn 2016 census was returned, which has since been rectified in SIMS Course Manager.

Use Exam Result to determine QAN/Discount CodeThe guidance below is available from the new Capita support portal with KB404605.

QANs and Discount Codes for 2014 onwards.

When to tick the 'Use Exam Result to determine QAN/Discount code' option in the School Census.

Discount Codes (for KS4 and AS levels, but not A2s) on Exams basedata do not always match the Discount Codes in the QWS files available from the DfE. There could, therefore, be a mismatch between the QWS discount code in the Classification Panel and the discount code on the Certification Element in the Examinations panel showing in Tools | Academic Management | Course Manager | Maintain Course.

Results are not required on the School Census return, but Exams information can be used to determine the QAN/Discount Code to be reported in the School Census. In Routines | Statutory Returns | School Census, when the Autumn Census is calculated (in the Summer release), users can choose whether or not to 'Use Exam Result to determine QAN/Discount code'.

Exam Link Off - Use Exam Result to determine QAN/Discount code is untickedIf the Exam link is turned off, the Census will draw in the QWS QAN and Discount Code attached to the course. This option should be used if the Exam (AO) QAN on which the students complete their course is always the same as the QWS QAN in the classification panel.

Switching off the link is not recommended, however, there may be large numbers of students who end up taking exams that have different AO QAN and Discount Code combinations to those indicated by the QWS QAN and Discount Code combination in Maintain Course, e.g. where students end up taking a lower level BTEC than that indicated by the QWS QAN and Discount Code combination in Maintain Course. In these circumstances it is best to leave the tick in 'Use Exam Result to determine QAN/Discount code' and allow the exam result to determine which QAN and Discount Code is reported in the Census.

If the school always adds the students to the correct course according to the exam which they will take, and no circumstance exists such as that described in the paragraph above, then the advice is to opt for Exam Link Off (Unticked).

Exam Link On - Use Exam Result to determine QAN/Discount code is tickedIf this Exam link is turned on, the Census will draw on the AO QAN and Discount Code attached to the Certification Element which is linked to the course - this can be seen in the Examinations panel in Tools | Academic Management | Course Manager | Maintain Course.

The Census will check to see if this AO QAN and Discount Code combination is in the QWS catalogue - if it is, it will use it.



If the AO QAN and Discount Code combination is not in the QWS catalogue, the Census will look in the mapping mechanism provided and use the appropriate QWS QAN and Discount Code. (The mapping mechanism is included in the tables in the background and is not visible from the front end.)

If the AO QAN and Discount Code combination is not in the QWS catalogue, and not found when mapping, then the Census will use the QWS QAN in Course Manager (as it would do if the Exam link is turned off).

NOTE: If the Exam Link is on but there are no results showing in Course Manager for the students, then the QWS QAN will be picked up by the Census.

Scroll down to panel 6: Learning Aims (student list may vary).

The Learning Aims panel is provided to enable you to check the Learning Aims that will be included in the School Census Autumn 2019 Return.

If the Learning Aim Planned End Date (P End Date) has been populated from the autumn 2019 return and the date you hold in Course Manager differs from that previously reported the cell is highlighted in yellow.

NOTE: Although Qualification and Non-qualification hours are collected for the census return, they will not be displayed in the Learning Aim panel within the school census. Additional detailed reports will be available within the school census return to check the data to be reported.



The Learning Aims panel collects information from Maintain Course and from the previous autumn census file (if available). The two rows of fields at the top of the panel and the Search can be used to search for specific data within the return. Select Columns allows other fields of student information to be selected or removed from view.

The panel also allows for the following:

When locked (default)a. No items can be edited.

b. No learning aims can be added or deleted.

When unlocked (the return can be unlocked by clicking onto the padlock top right of the panel).

Columns labelled as Start Date, End Date, Planned End Date, Status, QAN, Discount Code, Core Learning Aim, Withdrawal Reason, Provider UKPRN and Traineeship can be edited if necessary (not recommended).

Additional learning aim entries can be added manually but this is not recommended. Your trainer will explain the reasons.

Learning aim information can be excluded.

Conflicting exam results will show in red in the Learning Aims panel, just as they would in the Maintain Course screen, if they have not been rectified.

Click Compare with Previous Autumn. This report can be run to compare the learning aims reported for the school census autumn 2019 with the learning aims to be reported for the school census autumn 2020. The differences are highlighted in yellow but are not necessarily errors.

You may be asked to select the previous return.

Highlight the School Census Autumn 2019 return, then click OK.

You may be prompted to Save before continuing.

NOTE: It will be possible to record more than one core aim directly in the census return. However, the date for the learning aims should not overlap.

It may be necessary to save several times as this panel is checked. SIMS will display a message when a save is required.

Comparisons between this data and the corresponding learning aims data in the previous census can only be made if the previous census has been authorised and is saved in the census folder.



The ESFA are keen for schools to ensure that data matches as accurately as possible with previous census returns. Changes in the Start and Planned End Dates are to be avoided where possible.

Discrepancies in dates are highlighted on this report in a yellow colour.

Click Compare with Course Manager.

Various colours may display on the report to identify missing, conflicting, unmatched or incomplete data.

Click Recalculate. This will refresh the Learning Aims from Course Manager. It will preserve any manual edits.

Click No to cancel Recalculate at this stage as this is investigated in the next activity.

Editing Learning AimsBy default, while the census is locked (signified by the padlock) no data fields can be edited.

To activate Add and Exclude so that learning aims can be removed and additional learning aims added, the census should be unlocked by clicking onto the padlock.

NOTE: The Census panel should only be unlocked if absolutely necessary. All learning aim information should be held in Course Manager (Maintain Course) whether created automatically or manually.

Step by Step – Removing or Adding a Learning Aim Directly to the Census (Optional)After the Census return has been unlocked the method to remove or add a learning aim directly into the census is described below. The steps below should be followed as a last resort as any changes to the census panel will stay only in a census file and they will not be saved in a SIMS course manager.

To remove a learning aim record:

1. Highlight the Learning Aim, then click Exclude.



2. The Learning Aim row will appear shaded to signify it will not be included in the return. If a shaded row is selected Exclude will change to Restore. Click Restore to reverse the exclusion.

To add a Learning Aim record:Click Add to add a new learning aim. The Add Learning Aim wizard will start. Use the YTI (Year Taught In) drop-down list and ensure that 12 is selected. Click Search Students and highlight a student (student list may vary). Click Next.

3. In the QAN screen type 50119229 (added in earlier activity) in the QAN / Discount Code field and click Search QAN. Highlight the OCR Level 3 NVQ Award in Speaking Welsh (QCF), then click OK.

The additional row will appear at the end of the learning aims.

4. Complete the Start Date, End Date, P End Date and Status field if necessary.

NOTE: As the record has been added manually then no exam result is required.

It is advisable, where possible, to make the changes in Course Manager and not directly in the census return.



5. Click Save.

Manually added learning aims are shown with a yellow highlight in the census return.

Step by Step – Create and Validate the Return1. When satisfied that the Learning Aims panel is an accurate representation of the

situation in your school, click Save.

2. Once the rest of the census has been completed, click Create and Validate. This will collect information in the appropriate format, produce the census file in XML format and check it against the DfE validation rules.

Once complete, the census return details are compressed into the upper half of the screen and in their place in the lower half of the screen a Validation Errors Summary is displayed, as shown in the graphic displayed below.

The proportion of the screen shared by each may be adjusted by clicking the dividing line and adjusting up or down, as desired.

Column widths can be adjusted by clicking and dragging a dividing line on the header row of the table. If a cell’s contents are too wide for the cell hovering over that cell will display the full contents.

The Validation Errors Summary at the top left details any validation rules the census has failed. These are divided into errors, shown in red and queries, shown in black.

Queries should be checked; these denote data which is unusual but which may be correct but is unusual. Errors should be resolved. When the mouse pointer is hovered over an error or query row, it changes to a hand if a hyperlink is available to the area of SIMS where the issue can be checked.

The Student Search functionality can be used to display all errors and queries relating to a particular student. Enter all or part of a student’s surname, date of birth (in YYYY-MM-DD format) or UPN of the Student.

Double-clicking an error will often open the appropriate part of SIMS where the data can be amended.

Learning aims errors will be directed to the Update Learning Aims panel of the census return details. Where a large number of errors relate to the same course it may be more effective to deal with these through Course Manager.

Checking Prior Attainment Click Detail Report and select Prior Attainment Report.



Step by Step – Viewing the Summary Report and Detailed ReportsThe Summary Report shows the data included in the return in a format determined by the DfE.

1. Click Summary to generate the School Census Summary.

This report shows summary data related to Post-16 learning aims. It should be noted that this is only a summary of the information reported to the DfE and is calculated according to a set of rules provided by the DfE. The contents of the table may sometimes appear misleading.

2. Click Detail Report. 3. Select On Roll Learning Aims Report. Note also the Leavers Learning Aim Report,

Learning Aims by Status Report, Post-16 Programmes of Study Report, Post-16 Programmes of Study – Programmes Report, Work Placements Report and Prior Attainment Report.

All of these reports are useful for checking purposes and as a detailed record of the information that has been submitted. When these are viewed on screen an electronic copy of each is stored in the school census folder. Should amendments be made to the school’s data after running the reports, then they may be run again and the stored electronic copy will be updated.

NOTE: It is strongly recommended that the Detailed On Roll Learning Aims Report, Leavers Learning Aim Report, Learning Aims by Status Report and the new Programmes of Study Report are checked by someone with management responsibility for the post-16 learning aim information. This information will be reported to the ESFA for funding purposes.



Step by Step – Viewing Reports from Previous ReturnsIt is now possible to view any reports from previously authorised census returns.

1. Select Tools | Statutory Returns Tools | Retrieve Authorised Census Return Files.

2. Highlight the School Census Autumn 2017 return and click Retrieve Files at the top of the screen.

Any saved reports will be displayed.

3. Click Close to close the reports and the Retrieve Authorised Returns for School Census screen.

Step by Step – Authorising the ReturnThe return should be authorised before being transferred to the LA.

A hard copy of the Summary Report should be given to the head teacher to check, sign and date if satisfied with the content. The signed copy can then be filed by the person who completes the school census in SIMS.

1. Click Authorise. A prompt recommends that the Detailed Reports and Summary Reports are saved for future reference.

2. Click Yes to continue.



3. Select the check box in the Head teacher authorisation dialog and click Continue once the head teacher has approved the return. Note that there is a free text box available for any additional notes to be added to the Authorisation Report:

NOTE: Once authorised, no changes can be made to the return, but if required a copy of the return can be made. Once created and validated the copy can be edited and used to replace the original return.

The school census file is now ready to be uploaded in accordance with your local LA/DfE policy.



A Appendix A

Where to go for SupportSupport and advice is available from a number of different organisations depending on the nature of the query.

Support Regarding SIMS FunctionalityCheck for information on My Account:

https://myaccount.capita-cs.co.uk

Contact your usual SIMS support partner.

Support Regarding the School CensusFor academies and LAs, contact the DSD service desk by completing the service request form at:

http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/adminandfinance/schooladmin/ims/datacollections/requestform

For maintained schools, contact your LA.

Useful LinksESFA Funding Guidance:https://www.gov.uk/16-to-19-education-funding-guidance

DfE QAN Web Service (QWS):https://collectdata.education.gov.uk/qwsweb/default.aspx

DfE Census documentation area:https://www.gov.uk/school-census

DFE Section 96 Qualifications – QANs approved for funding:http://www.education.gov.uk/section96/

OFQUAL – The Register of Regulated Qualifications:http://register.ofqual.gov.uk

Learning Aims Reference Servicehttps://hub.fasst.org.uk/Learning%20Aims/Pages/default.aspx

Appendix A 96


B Appendix B


Step by Step – Reconciling Post-16 Course and Exam Results Reports.....................................................................................93Step by Step – Reconciling Post-16 Course and Exam Entries Reports......................................................................................95

Reconciliation Reports SIMS enables schools to link each exam award directly with a course in Course Manager (via Tools | Academic Management | Course Manager | Maintain Course). This link is then used for important reporting, data returns and analysis in Examinations Organiser.

The Reconciliation Reports have been designed to indicate to schools any areas where there may be issues with the school’s learning aims data. The reports do this by using the direct link between courses and exam awards to compare and contrast.

Reporting on Exam Entries and Results The Reconcile Post-16 Course and Exam Entries/Results Reports can be used to identify weaknesses in the QWS QAN and Exam (AO) QN link in Course Manager and to identify where the QAN is different or missing.

Reports are generated via two menu routes:

n Tools | Statutory Return Tools | Reconcile Post-16 Course & Exam Resultsn Tools | Statutory Return Tools | Reconcile Post-16 Course & Exam EntriesEach menu route provides access to several reports, which are generated in .CSV file format enabling them to be displayed in Microsoft Office Excel.

Step by Step – Reconciling Post-16 Course and Exam Results ReportsFour reports are generated when the following routine is performed.

1. Select Tools | Statutory Return Tools | Reconcile Post-16 Course & Exam Results to display the Reconcile Learning Aims & Exam Results dialog, as shown in the graphic displayed below.

Appendix A 97


2. Select the Academic Year - the report will be based on options from the drop-down list.

3. Click Destination Folder browse. Highlight the folder in which you wish to save the generated reports.

NOTE: The reports hold sensitive data.

4. Click OK to display the Reconcile Learning | Aims & Exam Results dialog.

5. Click Export to generate the reports. All four reports are automatically generated and saved to the Destination folder specified in step 3.

Reconcile Learning Aims and Exam Results Report examples are as follows.

Course Memberships with No Exam Results(CourseMembershipsWithNoExamResults-<yyyy>-<yyyy>.csv where yyyy denotes the academic year selected)This report provides a list of course memberships (learning aim declarations) with no exam result for the corresponding award.

Staff should expect to see learning aims with a Completion Status of either Withdrawn, Transferred or Re-sit display in the report. They are displayed correctly because there are no exam results attached. The remaining learning aims need to be checked to see if they genuinely have results or not.

Exam Results with Course QAN and No Course Memberships(ExamResultsWithCourseQANAndNoCourseMemberships-<yyyy>-<yyyy>.csv)This report provides a list of exam results where there is no corresponding course membership for the student.

For clarity of information, order the data by the Exam Title and filter out any irrelevant seasons.

If a set of exam results exists then staff members would expect them to be matched with a course, check that the QWS QAN attached to the course is correct. If it is incorrect, attach the correct QWA QAN in Course Manager.

When the Reconcile Reports are regenerated, the Exam Results with Course QAN and No Course Memberships report should not list the exam results for the course that was just amended.

The course should now show as a match in the Exam Results with Matching QAN Report.

Appendix A 98


Exam Results with Matching QAN

ExamResultsWithMatchingQAN-<yyyy>-<yyyy>.csv

This report provides a list of all exam results. The Matched column indicates whether the QCA QAN and exams (AO) QN match in Course Manager.

The following example shows:

n An exams (AO) QA is different to the QWS QAN held in Course Manager – no match.

n An exams (AO) QN that matches the QWS QAN in Course Manager – matched.

Exam Results with No Course QAN (ExamResultsWithNoCourseQAN-<yyyy>-<yyyy>.csv)

This report lists exam results with either missing or mismatched QWS QANs in Course Manager when checked against the exam (AO) QN.

Step by Step – Reconciling Post-16 Course and Exam Entries ReportsFive different reports are generated when running this routine:

1. Select Tools | Statutory Return Tools | Reconcile Post-16 Course & Exam Entries to display the Reconcile Learning Aims & Exam Entries dialog, as shown in the graphic displayed below.

2. Select the Academic Year - the report will be based on options from the drop-down list.

3. Click Destination Folder and navigate to and highlight the folder in which you wish to save the generated reports.

NOTE: The reports hold sensitive data.

4. Click OK to display the Reconcile Learning | Aims & Exam Results dialog.

5. Click Export to generate the reports. All four reports are automatically generated and saved to the Destination folder specified in step 3.

Appendix A 99


Reconcile Learning Aims and Exam Entries Reports are as follows and can be used in similar ways as the entries reports to check for missing or unlinked data.

Course Memberships with no Exam Entries

(CourseMembershipsWithNoExamEntries-yyyy-yyyy.csv)Exam Course QAN matches

(ExamCourseQANMatches-yyyy-yyyy.csv)Exam Entries with Exam QAN and No Course Memberships

(ExamEntriesWithExamQANAndNoCourseMemberships-yyyy-yyyy.csv)Exam Entries with matching QAN

(ExamEntriesWithMatchingQAN-yyyy-yyyy.csv)Exam Entries with No Course QAN

(ExamEntriesWithNoCourseQAN-yyyy-yyyy.csv)Locating Additional ReportsThe following reports may be of use when checking courses and QANs.

Courses and QANsReports | Run Report | Focus | Course Classification | Courses and QANsLists all courses that have QANs attached, shows Course Code, Course Description and QAN/Discount Code.

Students’ Courses and QANsReports | Run Report | Focus | Courses For Student | Students’ Courses and QANsDisplays Student Name, Registration Group, NC Year Group, Course Code, Course Description and QN/Discount Code.

Students’ Courses without QANsReports | Run Report | Focus | Courses For Student | Students’ Courses without QANsLists all students in the selected NC year groups who are on-roll on the selected date and are members of one or more courses where a QN has not been allocated.

Displays Student Name, Registration Group, NC Year Group, Course Code and Course Description.

Duplicate QAN ReportTools | Academic Management | Course Manager | Duplicate QAN ReportThe Duplicate QANs Report is provided to enable staff to identify where the same QN has been linked to two or more courses.

Appendix A 100


C Appendix C

Exam LevelsIn the following table, the code is the abbreviation used in Course Manager, which Nova-T also uses to assign levels to classes.

NQF indicates the corresponding level in the national qualifications framework notation.

Legacy indicates the value used in recent versions of Nova-T, and NI legacy indicates the value in the Northern Ireland version of Nova-T.

NOTE: It is imperative that levels are assigned to classes correctly. When manually creating a course, the use of Other as a level identifier should be kept to an absolute minimum.

Description Code NQF Legacy NI Legacy


Advanced Extension Award AEA 3 AEA AEA

Alternative Curriculum Altern

AQA Technicals Level 1 Award QTAw1

AQA Technicals Level 1 Diploma QTDi1

AQA Technicals Level 1 Extended Diploma

QTXD1

AQA Technicals Level 1 Subsidiary Diploma

QTSD1




QTXD2


QTSD2




QTXD3


QTSD3

Appendix A 101



Asset Advanced ATAdv 3

Asset Breakthrough ATBrk 0

Asset Intermediate ATInt 2

Asset Mastery ATMas

Asset Preliminary ATPre 1

Asset Proficiency ATPro

BTEC Award Level 1 BTAW1

BTEC Award Level 1 & 2 BTAw



BTEC Certificate Level 1 BTCe1 1

BTEC Certificate Level 1 & 2 BTCe



BTEC Diploma Level 1 BTDi1 1

BTEC Diploma Level 1 & 2 BTDi



BTEC Extended Certificate Level 2 BTXe2

BTEC Extended Certificate Level 3 BTXe3

BTEC Extended Diploma Level 3 BTXD3

BTEC National Award BTNA

BTEC National Certificate BTNC

BTEC National Certificate - B and D

BTNCB

BTEC National Diploma BTND

BTEC National Diploma B and J BTNDB

Appendix A 102



BTEC National Extended Certificate

BTNEC

BTEC National Extended Diploma BTNED

BTEC National Foundation Diploma

BTNFD

BTEC National Level 3 Foundation Diploma BTFD3

BTEC Subsidiary Diploma Level 3 BTSd3

BTEC Tech Award Level 1 BTA1

BTEC Tech Award Level 1/2 BTA12

BTSC Entry Level Award AWE

BTSC Entry Level Certificate CEE

BTSC Entry Level Diploma DIE

BTSC Level 1 Award AW1

BTSC Level 1 Certificate CE1

BTSC Level 1 Diploma DI1

BTSC Level 1 Extended Award EA1

BTSC Level 1 Extended Certificate EC1

BTSC Level 1 Extended Diploma ED1

BTSC Level 1 Subsidiary Award SA1

BTSC Level 1 Subsidiary Certificate SC1

BTSC Level 1 Subsidiary Diploma SD1







Appendix A 103















Cambridge Nationals Award Level 1 & 2 CNAw

Cambridge Nationals Certificate Level 1 & 2 CNCe

Cambridge National Diploma Level 1 & 2 CNDi

Cambridge Technical Certificate Level 2 CTCe2

Cambridge Technical Certificate Level 3 CTCe3

Cambridge Technical Diploma Level 2 CTDi2

Cambridge Technical Diploma Level 3 CTDi3

Cambridge Technical Ext Certificate Level 2 CTEC2

Cambridge Technical Ext Certificate Level 3

CTEC3

Cambridge Technical Ext Diploma CTED3

Appendix A 104



Level 3

Cambridge Technical Intro Diploma Level 3 CTID3

Cambridge Technical Subs Diploma Level 3 CTSD3

CTEC Extended Certificate CTECe

CTEC Foundation Diploma CTEFD

DiDA Award DAAw 1-2

DiDA Certificate DACe 1-2

DiDa Diploma DADi 1-2 DIDA

Diploma Advanced DplL3

Diploma Foundation DplL1

Diploma Higher DplL2

Diploma PL Advanced PLL3

Diploma PL Foundation PLL1

Diploma PL Higher PLL2

Diploma Progression DplLP

Entry Level EL 0 EL EL

Extended Project PjExt

Foundation Certificate in Secondary Education FCSE

FSMQ Advanced FSMQA 3 FSMQ

FSMQ Foundation FSMQF 1

FSMQ Intermediate FSMQI 2

Functional Skills FSkl

GCE Advanced Subsidiary Revised GCAS1

GCE Advanced Two Year Course GCE2Y

GCE A Double Award GCEDA 3

Appendix A 105



GCE Advanced GCEA 3 AGCE GCEA2

GCE Advanced Subsidiary GCEAS 3 ASGCE GCEAS

GCE ASB Double Award GCEDS 3

GCSE Double Award GCSED 1-2

GCSE Full Course GCSEF

GCSE Short Course GCSES

GCSE 9-1 Short Course GCSNS

GCSE 9-1 full course GCSNF

GCSE 9-1 double course GCSND

General Gen Null NONAC

GNVQ Foundation GNVQF

GNVQ Intermediate GNVQI

International Baccalaureate Diploma Program Higher Level IBDPH

International Baccalaureate Diploma Program Standard Level IBDPS

International Baccalaureate Middle Years Program IBMYP

International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program IBPYP

IGCSE 9 – 1 Double Course IGCSD

IGCSE 9 – 1 Full Course IGCSF

IGCSE 9 – 1 Short Course IGCSS

iGCSE Full Course CIEG

IMIAL L1 Award IMAw1

IMIAL L1 Certificate IMCe1

IMIAL L1 Diploma IMDi1

IMIAL L2 Diploma IMDi2

International Baccalaureate IB 3

Appendix A 106



Key Skills Level 1 KSkl1 1



Key Stage 1 KStg1 N/A STG1

Key Stage 2 KStg2 N/A STG2

Key Stage 3 KStg3 N/A STG3 KSTG3

Level 1/2 Certificate L12C

Level 3 Certificate L3C

Level 3 Diploma L3D

NQF Entry NQF0 0

NQF Level 1 NQF1

NQF Level 1 & 2 NQF12

NQF Level 2 NQF2

NQF Level 3 NQF3

OCR Nationals Award Level 1 ONAw1

OCR Nationals Award Level 2 ONAw2

OCR Nationals Certificate Level 1 ONCe1



OCR Nationals Diploma Level 3 ONDi3

OCR Nationals Extended Diploma Level 3 ONED3

OCR Nationals First Award Level 1 ONFA1

OCR Nationals First Certificate ONFCe

Other Other OTHER

Pearson Technical Level 3 PTLe3

Pre-U Diploma PrUD

Appendix A 107



Pre-U Short Course PrUSC

Pre-U Subject PrUS

Project Level 1 PjL1

Project Level 2 PjL2

T Level (Level 3) TLev3

T Level Transition TLevT

VCE A Double Award VCEDA

VCE Advanced VCEA

VCE Advanced Subsidiary VCEAS

VTCT L2 Certificate VTCe2

VTCT L2 Diploma VTDi2

WBQ Advanced WBQA 3

WBQ Foundation WBQF

WBQ Foundation Level 2 WBQF2

WBQ Intermediate WBQI

WBQ National WBQN

WBQ National Level 2 WBQN2

Year 12 Non Qualification Course Y12NQ

Year 13 Non Qualification Course Y13NQ

Appendix A 108


D Appendix D

Adding Subjects into SIMSTools | Setups | SubjectsThe routine to edit and maintain subject details is contained within SIMS. The bulk of this operation is designed to support Curriculum and Lesson Planner. There are, however, implications for other areas of software including Nova-T, Assessment and Examinations Organiser.

Course Manager enables the creation of non-timetabled courses of study. However, if the subject staff that wish to create a course for is new and has never previously been taught at the school, you will need to create a subject before the course is created.

Click Search to populate the browse. A list of subjects is displayed. Select any subject and view the details.

The data is in two panels.

n The Basic Details panel shows the DfE Subject Code and Title. This code should match with subject details used in Nova-T to ensure consistency between timetable displays in Nova-T and academic information in SIMS.

n The DfE Subject Code is also used with school workforce census to record vacancies within your school. The autumn return also informs on the curriculum area.

It is necessary to map the school’s subjects to the national code set supplied.

The CLP Module Details panel shows:

n Course Coordinator

n National Curriculum core indicator

n Years Taught In indicators

n Background Colour

n Foreground Colour

n Active flag

n Plan default indicator.

Appendix D 109


With the exception of the course co-ordinator, all of these options are specific to Curriculum and Lesson Planner use and do not affect other routines. Their use is not relevant to this course.

It is possible to add and remove subjects and edit subject details. Only the Basic Details panel need to be considered here, but a course co-ordinator should be selected in panel 2 to save details.

It is unlikely that subject details will be changed except perhaps in preparation for a new timetable. The list should then match the list maintained in Nova-T.

Implications for Nova-T When Nova-T reloads basedata from SIMS it will offer any new subjects found here. It will match the codes with codes already in Nova-T and identify new codes and subjects. Ideally, both lists will match identically. New subjects created in Nova-T will also be created in SIMS on running the SQL transfer wizard.

Appendix D 110


E Appendix E


Step by Step – Exploring Previously Created and Linked Courses............................................................................................107

Step by Step – Exploring Previously Created and Linked Courses Many courses which are present within Course Manager will already be linked to one or more exam awards.

1. Open the Art (GCEA) course by selecting Tools | Academic Management | Course Manager | Maintain Course.

2. Click Search and double-click Art (GCEA).3. Scroll down to panel 3: Examination and note that three awards are present, EDEXL

9AD01 from 2010 to 2011 and 2016 and WJEC 3001 from 2012 to 2015. EDEXL 9AD0 award is from 2017 which is the current.

4. Click each award to see the detail reflected in the Certification Elements panel below. The yellow signifies that there are more than one active awards simultaneously.

5. Confirm this is the case by opening Examinations Organiser via Focus | Examinations.

6. In Examinations Organiser, check the course link via Tools | School Setup | Exam Award. Open the EDEXL 9AD01 award by double-clicking or clicking View/Edit.

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7. In the Course panel, this award is linked to Art (GCEA). This information is read-only and cannot be amended here.

8. Check the WJEC 3001 and EDEXL 9AD0 awards as both are linked to the Art (GCEA) course.

9. The conflict can be resolved in the Awards section of panel 3 in Course Manager. Complete the From and To fields for the awards, as shown in the following graphic. There is also a free text reason field, which can be completed for reference.

10. The awards lose their yellow colouring as now only one award is active at any time. Click Save.

NOTE: More than one award can be active at any one time, but Course Manager will work faster, and anomalies will be less likely if this is avoided.

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